Grand press conferences, meticulously staged portraits, and diamonds with their own news cycle are all part of royal engagements. Then there’s Samuel Chatto, who announced his engagement to Eleanor Ekserdjian via a low-key Instagram post, a few black-and-white pictures, and a porcelain ring he crafted.
It’s difficult to ignore how appropriate that is for a couple who appear to have based their whole relationship on craft, art, and something truly leisurely.
On July 13, Chatto, 29, announced that he and Eleanor, whom he refers to as just Ellie, are engaged and will tie the knot in the spring of 2027. The post was kind without being overtly dramatic. “I’m thrilled to announce that Ellie and I are engaged. And we are overjoyed.” That was all. No sophisticated statement, no elegant language, no stylist. King Charles is “very happy for them both” and the families are thrilled, according to Buckingham Palace’s follow-up, but even that seemed more like a footnote than a headline.
It’s worth stopping to look at the engagement ring. The porcelain ring was created by Chatto, a professional ceramicist. It’s a unique and deliberate decision. Giving up tradition in favor of something handmade feels less like a statement and more like who he is for someone with royal ancestry—he is the 30th in line to the throne, the grandson of Princess Margaret, and the son of Lady Sarah Chatto. That likely reflects how he and Eleanor have managed their relationship as well.
Both of them were studying fine art at the University of Edinburgh when they first met. Since 2021, they have been together and have quietly established themselves as working artists in London. Eleanor comes from a British-Armenian family that practically seems destined for the arts. David Ekserdjian, her father, teaches art history at the University of Leicester.
Susan Moore, her mother, writes for the Financial Times about art. Eleanor herself attended the Royal Drawing School after studying fine art in Edinburgh. Her primary artistic mediums are painting and filmmaking, and galleries all over the United Kingdom have displayed her work.
There’s a feeling that these two individuals met in a setting that made perfect sense—an art school full of people who were serious about creating things—and have just remained together ever since. A few weeks prior to the announcement, they were seen at Peter Phillips and Harriet Sperling’s wedding in the Cotswolds. In December 2024, Eleanor also accompanied Chatto to the Sandringham Christmas Day service, which is usually one of those subliminal cues that something is serious.
In the royal landscape, Sam Chatto holds an intriguing position. Despite having no official responsibilities, he attends important events like Queen Elizabeth’s state funeral, King Charles’ coronation, and Harry and Meghan’s wedding. He enters and exits that world without being overtaken by it, which may be why he and Eleanor are able to live what seems to be a truly private, artistic life together.
There is something about this specific engagement that seems noteworthy, regardless of how closely people follow royal news. It’s not the controversy of a transatlantic romance, the drama of succession, or the disruption of a centuries-old custom. It tells the story of two artists who met in college, fell in love, relocated to London, and became engaged after one of them fired a ring in a kiln. The palace congratulated them. The plan is for spring. It appears that the others will work out in private.
