RA Luxury Brand

Did you know that the Royal Academy of Arts is a luxury brand? Neither did I until it won the British Cultural Excellence category in the Walpole British Luxury Awards for Excellence 2012 (CLICK). It stands alongside the likes of Mulberry, Ferrari, Burberry and Jaguar as a luxury brand which flogs goodies to the wealthy. Maybe that's why it charges such high prices for its exhibitions. This year's awards, held at Banqueting House last Monday, were presented by Anthony Head, presumably a luxury brand himself since he played King Uther in BBC's Merlin. What puzzles me is that in the year of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee no award went to the Royal Family, surely the UK's most prestigious luxury brand.