FLAMBOYANT sculptor Sir Grayson Perry has accepted his knighthood from the Prince of Wales.
The Turner prize winning artist and broadcaster, who is known for his tapestries and ceramic works, was recognised in the New Year Honours list for services to the arts.
Sir Grayson, 63, has now accepted the honour at Windsor Castle wearing a burgundy taffeta dress in honour of King Charles.
In 2014, Sir Grayson was made a CBE during an investiture by the then Prince Charles and wore what he called his “Italian mother-of-the-bride” outfit, a midnight blue dress with a wide-brimmed black hat.
Speaking about his knighthood outfit on Wednesday, he told the PA news agency: “The last outfit was ‘mother-of-the-bride’, so maybe I’m now ‘grandmother-of-the-bride’ – I’ve got a bit older.
“My basic thought was King Charles has just been crowned. I thought Carolingian, so I looked to the Stuart era for influence – 17th century, those sort of portraits of women of that age.”
Sir Grayson said he wanted to use the title informally because he doesn’t want to come across as “pompous”, but also said it should be used during a “very formal occasion”.
“But it’s quite funny to sign off a text to your best friend, ‘Sir G’,” he joked.
The Essex-born artist, who studied at Colchester Institute, also described his conversation with “fun” William, who bestowed the honour on Wednesday.
“We talked about humour because humour is important.
“I don’t think it gets enough recognition in the culture quite often, because humour is the check and balance of culture, there’s no common sense without a sense of humour,” he said.
Sir Grayson previously said being given a knighthood was an honour coming from a kind of working-class background.
Born in Chelmsford, Sir Grayson began his career at Braintree College of Further Education and then at Portsmouth Polytechnic, where he studied fine art.
He received an honorary degree from Colchester Institute in 2012 and in 2015 opened the House for Essex, or Julie’s House, a secular chapel to the memory of a fictional Essex woman.
The ornate ceramic-clad, gingerbread-like edifice overlooks the Stour Estuary at Wrabness.
Sir Grayson has also staged an exhibition at Colchester’s Firstsite gallery celebrating the life of Essex every woman Julie Cope.
Speaking about what his advice would be for young artists, Sir Grayson said: “It’s a long haul.”
He continued: “I was very much a late developer. I was one of those artists who rose without trace.
“I was in my late 30s before I made a living from my work. But I’ve also had a really lovely late career where I’m doing lots of different things and trying new things.
“So, I would say never stop learning. It’s absolutely important to always try new things which excite you.”
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