Louise Pragnell

Louise Pragnell is one of the UK’s leading contemporary portrait painters, recognised for her ceremonial, institutional and private commissions. Her work explores portraiture as a record of leadership and public service, with a particular interest in the representation of women whose achievements have shaped civic, judicial and national life.

Her recent commissions include ceremonial portraits of Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal for both the British Army’s Intelligence Corps and the Worshipful Company of Saddlers. The Intelligence Corps portrait, unveiled in June 2026, celebrates The Princess Royal’s role as Colonel-in-Chief while highlighting the importance of female leadership and representation within the Armed Forces. Louise has painted other pioneering figures including former Mayor of Warwick Councillor Misan McFarland, and she has been commissioned by the Inner Temple to paint Dame Ingrid Ann Simler, Lady Simler, who became Justice of the Supreme Court in 2023.

Her wider body of work includes portraits of Guillaume, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Grand Duchess Stéphanie of Luxembourg, Jeremy Clarkson, William Hague, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, Sir Jackie Stewart, and former NBA player Pops Mensah-Bonsu. In 2026, her portrait of Mensah-Bonsu was selected for exhibition in the Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery.

Alongside individual portraits, Louise is known for ambitious large-scale military paintings, including the three-metre portrait of 32 Irish Guards officers presented to The Prince and Princess of Wales, and an earlier group portrait of 25 Household Cavalry officers unveiled by The Princess Royal.

Louise holds a Master of Fine Art with Distinction from the University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh College of Art and later trained in Florence. A three-time exhibitor at the National Portrait Gallery’s Portrait Award, she combines classical technique with deep insight into her sitters to create portraits that preserve history while championing visible leadership and greater representation for future generations.