A Royal Collection Acquisition: Field Marshal The Lord Houghton of Richmond

London Studio — 10 October 2025 RCIN 2119735

I am honoured to share that my portrait of Field Marshal The Lord Houghton of Richmond, GCB, CBE, DL, has been accepted into the Royal Collection — one of thirteen works from my non-profit archive now preserved within it, and among the most recent.

On 10 October 2025 I welcomed Lord Houghton back to my London studio for our second sitting, more than a decade after our first in 2014, when he served as Chief of the Defence Staff. Commissioned into the Green Howards in 1974, he commanded his battalion in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, served as Senior British Military Representative in Iraq, and rose to become Chief of the Defence Staff in 2013, steering the Armed Forces through the period following the Afghanistan campaign. In June 2025 His Majesty The King promoted him to Field Marshal, alongside The Lord Richards of Herstmonceux.

A Royal Collection Acquisition: Field Marshal The Lord Houghton of Richmond (Rory Lewis Photographer 2026)

Our 2025 sitting sought to capture that evolution — from active command to elder statesmanship. Rendered in my signature chiaroscuro, the portrait emphasises depth, restraint, and the gravity of leadership earned through experience. To photograph Lord Houghton once more, now bearing the baton of a Field Marshal, was to complete a narrative that began in uniformed service and continues in reflection and legacy.

This work was made possible by the supporters of the Rory Lewis Non-Profit. Your donations meet the cost of producing and printing these archival portraits and placing them, free of charge to the sitters, in permanent public collections — and they are what allow me to continue this work alongside serving personnel and veterans. To support the archive, please visit rorylewis.studio/non-profit.

You can view more of my portraiture on my portraits page. Read more about Lord Houghton on Wikipedia.

Field Marshal The Lord Houghton of Richmond — Portrait Sitting — Copyright © Rory Lewis Non Profit (Heroes in Focus), All Rights Reserved. The Heroes in Focus non-profit is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charity. EIN 33-2920765. Contributions are tax-deductible for US taxpayers to the extent allowed by law.