Prince William and Kate Middleton viewed their first official joint portrait together. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended the painting’s unveiling during a visit to Cambridgeshire, a county in the City of Cambridge, on June 23.
William and Kate went to the Fitzwilliam Museum, where they witnessed the painting’s debut after it was made public. In 2021, the Cambridgeshire Royal Portrait Fund commissioned the piece, painted by British portrait artist Jamie Coreth, as a gift to Cambridgeshire, PEOPLE reported.
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“It has been the most extraordinary privilege of my life to be chosen to paint this picture,” Coreth told PEOPLE. “I wanted to show Their Royal Highnesses in a manner where they appeared both relaxed and approachable, as well as elegant and dignified.”
“As it is the first portrait to depict them together, and specifically during their time as The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, I wanted the image to evoke a feeling of balance between their public and private lives. The piece was commissioned as a gift for the people of Cambridgeshire, and I hope they will enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed creating it,” he added. At their wedding in April 2011, Queen Elizabeth bestowed the titles of Duke and Duchess of Cambridge upon the couple.
in the portrait, Kate has on an emerald metallic dress by The Vampire’s Wife that she wore to Dublin during the couple’s March 2020 visit, while William is dressed in a dark suit and blue tie.
Following the viewing of the piece, the royal couple will meet with the artist and other supporters of the project. Additionally, they will meet Lady Sibyl Marshall, the wife of the late Sir Michael Marshall, who first proposed the idea to create the portrait.
Prince William and Kate visited Wales as part of Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations with their two eldest children, Prince George, 8, and Princess Charlotte, 7. Prince William will be known as the Prince of Wales and heir to the throne when Prince Charles becomes monarch, while Kate will be known as the Princess of Wales.
Prince Charles, 73, is still preparing to take the throne when the time comes, a royal insider told Us Weekly in February, and that father and son plan to “work closely together” to implement their vision. Charles intends to “ensure that his son is up to speed the ins and outs of the royal family on a deeper level, and William will help Charles come up with new, fresh ideas about modernizing the monarchy.” The Duke of Cambridge is said to be onboard with Charles’ plan to streamline the institution by reducing the number of permanent staff, which will result in “less drama,” the insider added.
William told British GQ in 2017 about his royal duties, “You learn on the job. There is no rule book,” adding, “Having that difference in how we do things makes the royal family more interesting and more flexible. If we all followed the same line, it would all be quite stifled. Our characters are different, and the different opinions are important to have.”
The queen, he said, has done “a remarkable job leading the country her vision, her sense of duty, her loyalty, her steadfastness, it has been unwavering.” He also noted that the monarchy had been relatively adaptable to changes so far but said, “you are only as good as your last gig, so you have to always keep an eye towards the future.”
