According to Cosmopolitan, Prince William and Kate Middleton took a royal trip to Scotland last week, during which they visited a pop-up art studio sponsored by art collective Perthshire Open Studios. There, they were presented with a portrait of Middleton by local artist Tom Sutton-Smith. Apparently, after the debacle surrounding the initial portrait of the Duchess of Cambridge, which was widely panned for being an unflattering representation of the Duchess, several acquaintances told Sutton-Smith they thought he could do a much better job. These people were not correct, and now poor Kate has been presented with a second unflattering representation of herself.
Paul Emsley, Catherine Duchess of Cambridge (2012), official royal portrait.
Photo: Wikipedia.
According to the artist, “There seems to be a trend to do super-realistic portraits, and I was trying to opposite to get some freedom into it.”
Prince William, however, described the painting as “brilliant”, and stated, “”[T]hat’s going up in my room.” Whether or not he was just being polite or has questionable taste in art remains unclear.
A Rash of Bad Portraits
Also, somewhat confusingly, the royal couple was presented with another portrait during their time in Scotland. However, this one was made of jellybeans, and for some reason Kate’s nose is yellow, while William’s face inexplicably changes colors halfway up. Our advice to any emerging artists feeling inspired by the royal family? Don’t.
Jellybean portrait of the Royal Family.
Photo: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images.