On Wednesday, a new portrait of Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, was revealed. Intended to showcase the princess’s resilience and grace, the portrait sparked a range of reactions online. This comes just a week after a portrait of King Charles III, Kate’s father-in-law, received similarly mixed reviews.
The portrait of Prince William’s wife was created by Tatler Magazine as part of a series featuring members of the royal family. It was shared on social media as the cover for the July 2024 issue. The artwork is said to be inspired by Kate’s appearance in November 2022 at King Charles’ first state banquet, where she wore a Jenny Packham gown paired with a bracelet belonging to the late Queen Elizabeth II and drop earrings originally owned by the late Princess Diana.
Interestingly, Kate did not sit for the portrait. The artist, British-Zambian Hannah Uzor, used thousands of photos of Kate to “capture her likeness.” Uzor aimed to depict Kate’s true expressions and delve deeper into her character, despite never meeting the future queen.
“I wanted to capture her real expressions and get a sense of who she is,” Uzor said.
However, the portrait was met with criticism in the comments section of Tatler’s Instagram post. Many users expressed that the portrait failed to resemble or capture the beauty of Kate Middleton.
