Royal portraits are usually a disaster. How could they not be? The two main things the world does with the royals is look at them, and then talk about them. The unveiling of any new royal portrait is basically this on steroids. A painting is unveiled and we all pick over it, declaring whether the artist got it “right” – whether it bears any accurate resemblance, or whether it stands for anything at all. Artist Jamie Coreth must be feeling quite relieved this week, then: his portrait of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the first of the couple together, has bucked the trend. It looks like them – tick. But it also seems to say something intriguing about who they are, and what they will become.
What’s most immediately striking is that Will and Kate are depicted as relaxed, modern royals. Unveiled at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge yesterday (23 June), the painting shows the pair with their arms around one another, looking off to the side. He has his hand in his pocket; she wears a dress from Susie Cave’s label, The Vampire’s Wife. Everyone wants that dress now (although it costs £1,595, so not very cost-of-living). The likeness is good, even if it’s slightly soft and hazy, like the whole thing has had an Instagram filter applied to it. The future king and queen look camera-ready, but also like they’re standing at a party, waiting for the champers tray to come round. It’s still very regal – Coreth said he wanted to show them as “relaxed and approachable, as well as elegant and dignified” – but it seems to have a sense of humour about it, a certain cheekiness. Does it work? I think so.
