Royal fans are horrified about Kate Middleton's portrait on Tatler magazine’s cover and I am one of them!

On Tatler magazine’s Instagram page, they share the cover with the caption: “The Queen, the King, and now the Princess of Wales: Tatler’s July 2024 cover completes a royal triptych of historic magnitude with a new portrait of her Royal Highness by British-Zambian artist HannahUzor. ‘She has really risen up to her role,’ mother-of-three Uzor tells Helen Rosslyn. ‘She was born for this. She carries herself with such dignity, elegance and grace.”

Reactions to Tatler’s Instagram post have been far from positive. One fan said: “At first glance, I thought it was the Japanese Empress Masako,” whilst another fan said: “This portrait is awful, there are so many amazing artists out there, surely they could have found a better one.” Another fan commented that it is “A very poor portrait, which totally fails to represent the beauty and elegance of the Princess of Wales.”

I couldn’t agree more with these comments as unfortunately the portrait Hannah Uzor has taken of the Princess of Wales, as far as I am concerned, bears little resemblance to her. It would seem that this opinion is wide reaching and many have taken to X to air similar opinions. One user wrote: “You cannot be serious. That looks nothing like her,” whilst another said: Doesn’t look like Catherine at all. If she wasn’t wearing that dress I’d have no clue as to who it’s meant to be. 

Hannah Uzor draw inspiration from when Catherine, Princess of Wales, attended the first state banquet for King Charles’s reign in November 2022 and wore a Jenny Packham embellished gown, cape, the Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Tiara amd her late mother-in-law Princess Diana’s earrings that were diamond and pearl drops. Although the depiction of the Princess of Wales’s dress by Hannah Uzor is accurate, the way she has captured her face is not. 

Whilst I appreciate that Hannah Uzor did not meet the Princess of Wales in person and prepared by looking at pictures of her, I still think she could have done a better job. After all, not only does the portrait not resemble the Princess of Wales, but it seems as if Hannah has looked at pictures of a completely different woman.