The summer occasion of St Ives Beach Party is believed to be Fred Yates's depiction of the Royal Wedding of Charles and Diana on 29 July 1981, with its red, white and blue bunting and the whole town celebrating in high summer. Who better to capture this joyous occasion than Fred. The painting is full of narratives, typical of the artist; the woman in the foreground in patriotic colours throwing her arms wide, the upright piano on the beach, 2 boys hanging precariously on the side of West Pier (thought to be one of many references in the artist's body of work to his childhood spent with his twin brother, who was lost in action in WW2), figures Cornish dancing, arms folded - Smeaton's Pier and lighthouse beyond. A wonderful picture of the whole of St Ives at a happy moment in the town's history. 

St Ives Beach Party was bought directly from the Wills Lane Gallery, St Ives in 1986/7 by the owners of the Selen Odenstrand Gallery in Stockholm and remained in an important private collection of contemporary Cornish works in Sweden until 2023.