Royal portraits with a twist: Princess of Wales releases family artwork

London: Catherine, Princess of Wales and her three children have shared their attempts at drawing each other in a family portrait.

The artworks by Catherine, 11-year-old Prince George, Princess Charlotte, aged nine, and six-year-old Prince Louis, were published on the family’s Instagram account.

Kensington Palace said it would leave viewers to decipher who had done each portrait, and of whom.

The artworks by Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis were published on the family’s Instagram account.Credit: Instagram

One – likely to be the work of Louis – has been completed in bold red paint and depicts someone with a frizzy orange fringe, or frown lines.

Another made use of colour, depicting someone with green, blue and pink hair, with yellow eyes and a green collar. A third appears to show the princess sitting on an armchair with her legs crossed, while a fourth depicts either George or Louis with their eyes closed and appears to have been done in charcoal.

The pictures were released to promote Catherine’s work on the importance of early childhood.

The pictures were released to promote Catherine’s work on the importance of early childhood.Credit: Instagram

It is hoped they will encourage others with children in their lives to follow suit by sitting down together and having a go at drawing each other.

The princess is keen to promote the notion that spending time together, being creative and having fun helps promote vital social and emotional skills that begin in early childhood and develop throughout life.

Louis, Charlotte and George may have inherited some artistic talent from their paternal grandfather, King Charles, who is a keen artist.

The monarch has long specialised in watercolours and has raised more than £2 million ($4 million) for good causes from the sale of his landscapes.

William, Prince of Wales, Louis, George, Catherine and Charlotte attending the 2024 Christmas Morning Service at St Mary Magdalene Church.Credit: Getty Images

Earlier this month, he agreed to loan a leading Polish cultural centre some of his watercolours after a plea from its gallery to exhibit his work. A series of his limited edition framed lithographs are on sale in the Highgrove online shop for between £2950 and £7500, with all proceeds donated to the King’s Foundation.

The King paints whenever his schedule allows, and usually takes his treasured sailcloth and leather painting bag with him on royal tours.

Earlier this month, Catherine unveiled a new initiative at the National Portrait Gallery as part of her early years project.

She travelled to the gallery by minibus with a group of four and five-year-olds before taking them on a storytelling trail and asking them to create a self-portrait.

The Bobeam Tree Trail, based on a magical tree with colourful leaves “grown” inside the gallery, is designed to boost children’s social and emotional skills. Drawing portraits is one of several home-based activities related to the trail.

It is not the first time that the royal children’s art has been released by Kensington Palace. In December 2022, George’s painting of a reindeer in the snow attracted much praise.

In March 2021, Prince William and Catherine shared homemade Mother’s Day cards made by their children not only for their mother but also their late grandmother, Diana, the late princess of Wales. The couple explained that the family had a tradition of making cards to remember Diana.

George, then seven, had done a crayon drawing of a landscape featuring a tree, the sun, and birds flying in a blue sky. Charlotte, then five, coloured in a large heart on a pink background while Louis, two at the time, painted a heart on a green background, adorned with animal stickers.

In 2015, Catherine, who has a degree in art history from the University of St Andrews and is a keen photographer, revealed the then 18-month-old George was already showing a passion for art.

The Telegraph, London

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