Duke and Duchess of Cambridge dazzle in first official joint portrait together
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have arrived at the University of Cambridge’s Fitzwilliam Museum to view their first official painted portrait together.
The new portrait, which is the first official painting of the Duke and Duchess together, was released to the public for the first time on Thursday.
The paiting features the royal couple in glamorous formal wear standing together, with their arms around each other, and looking off into the distance.
The Duchess of Cambridge chose her emerald green, shimmering ‘Falconetti’ dress by The Vampire’s Wife, a style that first wore for a visit to Ireland in 2020.
Kate, 40, opted for a pair of green Manolo Blahnik ‘Hangisi 105’ satin pumps but it was her choice of accessories that really cemented her commitment to the Royal Family in the poignant portrait.
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The Queen’s 'Duchess of Cambridge pearl pendant brooch' is forever memorialised in the portrait, as the duchess wore it for the first time for the sitting as a subtle tribute to both Her Majesty and her position as the Duchess of Cambridge.
The family brooch features a large centre pearl surrounded by a cluster of diamonds with another smaller pearl hanging as a pendant.
The pearl and diamond brooch was named the Duchess of Cambridge brooch to honour the namesake before Kate, Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kessel.
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Kate didn’t miss the opportunity to honour her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana, in the painting, too.
The duchess wears Diana’s Collingwood pearl and diamond earrings, a gift from jewellers Collingwood (the Spencer family jeweller) to the late People’s Princess on her wedding day, and her four-strand pearl bracelet.
The artwork, painted by award-winning British portrait artist Jamie Coreth, was commissioned by the Cambridgeshire Royal Portrait Fund in 2021 as a gift to Cambridgeshire.
”It has been the most extraordinary privilege of my life to be chosen to paint this picture,” said artist Jamie Coreth of his commission. “I wanted to show Their Royal Highnesses in a manner where they appeared both relaxed and approachable, as well as elegant and dignified.
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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.
Coreth worked to incorporate many subtle tributes to the City of Cambridge into the portrait by painting the background with the tones and colours of many of the historical stone buildings that are synonymous with the city, and the use of a hexagonal architectural motif which can be seen on buildings across Cambridge.
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The portrait will be held at the University of Cambridge's Fitzwilliam Museum for an initial period of three years for members of the public to view.
The painting will then tour other community spaces and galleries around Cambridgeshire before being loaned to the National Portrait Gallery in 2023 to mark the London Gallery's reopening.
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