Duchess Fergie is on the hustle. Sarah, the Duchess of York, (also known as Fergie) has just launched a digital art gallery. With this move, she follows a handful of other royals into the world of Web3.
Sarah Ferguson is a sort-of member of the British royal family, and apparent bestie and ex-wife of the recently disgraced Prince Andrew, Duke of York.
Duchess Fergie on the hustle
According to The Duchess of York, she has many business interests and charity projects, with her latest offering likely to tickle the fancy of those who enjoy digital art.
According to NFT marketplace Nifty Gateway, the “The Duchess Gallery” will soon be launched, with the exhibition going live December 22.
The online digital gallery has been curated by the Duchess of York herself, and the artworks include items by a host of acclaimed artists. In addition, the gallery features spoken-word poetry paired with animated paintings. Also included in the collection are AI-generated art, movies and different types of storytelling.
The Duchess of York said, “As technology evolves, traditional aesthetics can find a new life in this contemporary viral world. I intend to collaborate and feature artists from all over the world. I am especially interested in highlighting artists from impoverished nations, who may not otherwise have an opportunity to showcase their talents on a worldwide stage”.
As noted before, the collection is featured on Nifty Gateway, a popular platform where enthusiasts can trade and store digital art and collectibles. It’s also one of the few places where NFTs can be bought with a credit card. However, Nifty Gateway is owned by an exchange called Gemini, which is currently embroiled in the FTX turmoil. Let’s see how that turns out.
Royal colonisations other than Duchess Fergie
Fergie isn’t the only royal planting her flag firmly on Web3. Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are creating their own colony in the Metaverse.
Their virtual kingdom is to be built in Pax.World, and we can only assume that most royal fans will want to see a virtual palace in the space. Think of what their palace could do for virtual land prices in the vicinity!
King Charles supports crypto
As Prince Charles became King Charles, and the new overlord of the Royal family, he let his position on cryptocurrencies be known.
As he read out the Queen’s speech to parliament, he revealed that plans are underway for the UK to adopt cryptocurrencies.
Speaking to the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the royal thrust of the King’s speech was that the UK would make every effort to keep its position as a “global leader in financial services.”
The UK is said to be “harnessing the opportunities of innovative technologies in financial services, including supporting the safe adoption of cryptocurrencies and resilient outsourcing to technology providers”. Whatever that means.
The speech detailed future powers whereby authorities could “quickly and easily seize and recover crypto assets, which are the principal medium used for ransomware. The creation of a civil forfeiture power will mitigate the risk posed by those who cannot be criminally prosecuted but use their funds to further criminality”. Okay, so they’re still of the opinion that crypto is ideal for crime (hint: it’s not, cash is better).
His majesty is yet to bring out his own coins, but most kings throughout history have. So perhaps he best get on that.
Other Royal Families and Web3
The British royals aren’t the only ones staking their claims to Web3. The Czech royal family is planning to use NFT technology to help preserve artefacts that are hundreds of years old.
The royal family still operate out of the Prague Castle and are caretakers of the Lobkowicz Collection, which currently sits inside vaults under the palace. The age of items in the collection range from 700 years old to 2000 years old, and priceless works include art by Rubens and Bellotto. Also, there are weapons and armour, and original music by Beethoven.
When the pandemic hit and people could not see the works in-situ, virtual tours started instead. The palace was surprised to see that these tours were more popular than actual tours, which gave rise to an idea – that these artworks could be preserved on the blockchain, and exist as NFTs. In fact, they could be sold to raise funds for the preservation of the original IRL artworks.
Of all the NFTs to own, even if you are an NFT sceptic, a royal-certified NFT must surely be one of the most tempting.
