Here's The First Official Portrait Of Prince William And Kate Middleton

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were painted by award-winning British portrait artist Jamie Coreth.

Buckingham Palace on Thursday revealed the first official portrait of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (aka Kate Middleton). The painting is the work of award-winning British portrait artist Jamie Coreth and was commissioned last year by the Cambridgeshire Royal Portrait Fund.

"It has been the most extraordinary privilege of my life to be chosen to paint this picture," Coreth said in a statement provided to BuzzFeed News. "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.”

The portrait will be on display at the University of Cambridge's Fitzwilliam Museum for the next three years (although it will be loaned to the National Portrait Gallery for a short time in 2023 for a special exhibit).

Before the museum opened on Thursday morning, William and Kate made a visit, where they viewed their portrait alongside Coreth and supporters of the project.

As far as the portrait itself?

William is shown wearing a standard suit and blue tie and Kate is shown wearing a dress from a trendy indie designer that she first wore to a royal engagement in Dublin in 2020.

The green garment is the "iridescent emerald silk metallic chiffon" Falconetti dress by indie brand the Vampire's Wife. It currently retails for $1,989.

The brooch Kate wears in the portrait is a loan from the Queen — and an appropriate one, given that the painting was commissioned by the Cambridgeshire Royal Portrait fund.

She's wearing the Duchess of Cambridge's Pearl Pendant Brooch. It's an heirloom piece that was created for Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel, the wife of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (Queen Victoria's aunt and uncle). You can read more about it at the Court Jeweller blog.

The Queen was pictured wearing the brooch in her 50th birthday portrait in 1972.

On Twitter, the Court Jeweller identified the other two pieces Kate's wearing in the portrait as items that once belonged to Princess Diana.

Kate also wears two pieces of Diana’s jewelry in the portrait: the Collingwood Pearl Drop Earrings (https://t.co/gs6C9Y22z0) and the Nigel Milne Pearl Bracelet (https://t.co/L7d3bl5X5h).

Twitter: @courtjeweller

These are not the first painted portraits of the Cambridges. A painted portrait of Kate was released in 2013.

And the first official portrait of William and his brother, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, was unveiled in 2009.


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