Kate Middleton’s Artist Gives Powerful Message After Backlash

The artist behind the new portrait of the Princess of Wales, described as “appalling”, has broken his silence.

Hannah Uzor, who created the painting of Kate featured on the latest cover of Tatler magazine, depicted Kate at the first state banquet of King Charles’s reign during the 2022 state visit to South Africa.

When the portrait was unveiled yesterday, it sparked significant backlash online, with many royal fans questioning its resemblance to Kate. One art critic even described it as “a jaw-dropping hit to the floor.”

Today, the British-Zambian artist responded to the backlash by telling the Daily Mail at her home that she was unaware of the controversy surrounding her work.

She told the newspaper: “It’s a fantastic story – and they (critics) can do whatever they want.”

Kate did not pose for the portrait and Uzor searched for photos of her to inform her work, saying she found more than 189,000 images of Kate in photographic archives.

In an interview in Tatler, Uzor was asked if the princess’s recent cancer diagnosis video had given her a new perspective. She said: “Without a doubt. All my portraits are made up of layers of personality, built from whatever I can find about them.” Kate’s public speech showed “a moment of confronting something difficult, of speaking from the heart, of having the courage to face it head on,” she added. The artist expressed his admiration for the princess, who has stepped away from the public spotlight while she undergoes preventative chemotherapy.

“She really lived up to her role – she was born for it. She carries herself with such dignity, elegance and grace,” Uzor said. The painter, based in St Albans, Hertfordshire, is, like Kate, a mother of three, and added: “I feel the joy of motherhood with her.”

Meanwhile, speaking in a video on Tatler’s social media accounts, the artist explained how she wanted to “capture the soul of the person”. She explained: “So I spent a lot of time looking at her and looking at her photos, watching videos of her, seeing her with her family, seeing her on diplomatic visits, seeing her when her rowing or visiting children in a hospice has been really interesting for me to get a sense of who she is.

“The process of painting this portrait, aside from studying the photographs and videos, is actually creating a sketch. So once I was happy with the sketch, I made a series of sketches in my notebook sketching, particularly looking at his expression, was really the key so I did several sketches, trying to capture his expression.

“And once I’m happy with that, I can then figure out what she’s going to wear. But this particular outfit that I chose was particularly striking, it made her look very regal and very confident.”