The 97 works on paper include a royal portrait by Tracey Emin, a celebratory Diamond Jubilee drawing done on an iPad by David Hockney and pieces by Antony Gormley, Anish Kapoor and Grayson Perry.
All the artists are members of the Royal Academy, the elite artistic society founded in 1768.
The artworks will go on public display at Buckingham Palace next year.
Martin Clayton, senior curator of prints and drawings at the Royal Collection Trust, on Friday called the gift "a vivid cross-section of the best of contemporary British art."
