King Charles and Queen Camilla give revealing verdicts on official Coronation portraits
The historic paintings of King Charles and Queen Camilla will be displayed at the National Gallery before being moved to their permanent home at Buckingham Palace, as part of the Royal Collection in time for the summer opening
King Charles and Queen Camilla have unveiled their official Coronation portraits in the National Gallery, on the second anniversary of their crowning at Westminster Abbey. Unveiling the works by the artists Peter Kuhfeld who painted Charles, and Paul S. Benney who depicted Camilla, the King praised the "wonderful composition" of his portrait while Camilla said of hers: "I just love it."
The pictures will be exhibited in the gallery's central hall for the next six weeks, before being installed in Buckingham Palace 's Throne Room as part of the Royal Collection, where they will be on display for the palace's annual summer opening. They will form part of a long tradition of Coronation portraits dating back centuries, with the earliest known example being a painting of James VI and I by Paul van Somer which hangs at Windsor Castle.
After unveiling the paintings in the central hall and posing for pictures with the artists, Charles and Camilla spoke with Kuhfeld and Benney, who were personally chosen by the King and Queen being previously known to them from former royal commissions.
"Hello Paul, lovely to see you," said Camilla, before beckoning over her daughter, Laura Lopes, who joined the King and Queen for the visit. Camilla recalled how Laura, a gallerist, had seen the early stages of the portrait during her sittings with Benney at Clarence House. "It's so incredible. It's very flattering," Laura said.
Hitting her daughter playfully on the arm, Camilla joked: "Don't say it's very flattering! I just love it." The portrait shows Camilla wearing her Coronation dress by Bruce Oldfield, draped with her robe of state, alongside " Queen Camilla 's crown", formerly known as Queen Mary's Crown.
She told Benney: "It was so nice not having to wear it all the time [for the sittings], it was very heavy." While speaking with Kuhfeld, Charles, who is royal patron of the National Gallery, praised the "wonderful composition" of his portrait, where he is depicted in uniform with the Imperial State Crown and his robe of state.
Charles is a longstanding patron of Kuhfeld, a graduate of the Royal Academy of Arts. In 2012, he commissioned the artist to paint the wedding of Prince William to the then Kate Middleton and he also painted portraits of young Princes William and Harry in 1986. Benney rose to prominence as a contemporary artist in New York in the 1980s and 1990s.
His portrait subjects include Queen Elizabeth II, Sir Mick Jagger and John Paul Getty III. In 2015, Charles also commissioned him to paint the Second World War veteran Brian Stewart, for the Royal Collection.
Kuhfeld said of his commission, which was completed during sittings at Windsor and St James's Palace: "I have known His Majesty The King for over forty years, since he was the Prince of Wales. We first met when I had left the Royal Academy Schools where I had completed the postgraduate course in Painting.
"He asked me to paint the Princes, William and Harry, who were then 5½ and 3½ years old. Unbeknown to me, this was the first of what were to be many commissions from His Royal Highness, as I subsequently accompanied him on many of his foreign tours (as the Tour Artist).
"When he became King in 2022, I was delighted and honoured to be commissioned by him to paint his official Coronation State Portrait. It has taken over a year and a half to complete. I have tried to produce a painting that is both human and regal, continuing the tradition of royal portraiture. His Majesty gave of his time with his usual graciousness and attention to detail, and we discussed certain aspects of the painting. He gave me five sittings in total, not including the painting of the Imperial State Crown. The State Crown had its own sittings!
"I usually start with drawings to develop my ideas and then move on to several oil studies to work out problems of composition. During this time, nobody was allowed in my studio while I was working, but one evening my eldest granddaughter forgot, when coming to tell me supper was ready; she burst through the door and came to a standstill and exclaimed, 'Oh! It's the King!'"
Benney, who painted Camilla at Clarence House, said: "It was an honour, privilege and total pleasure to undertake the first official portrait of Her Majesty since The Coronation and it is with some regret that the sittings for this important commission have come to end. After nearly a year of being installed in a temporary studio at Clarence House, I have deep and abiding memories of many hours of fascinating and sometime hilarious conversation with Her Majesty on countless varied subjects. I shall miss the quiet and relaxed atmosphere while I was working there even when Their Majesties were engaged elsewhere.
"My guiding principles in this commission were to both acknowledge the grand and historic nature of The Coronation iconography with all the equipage of the Monarchy and at the same time reveal the humanity and empathy of such an extraordinary person taking on an extraordinary role."
Charles and Camilla, wearing a scarlet crepe dress by Fiona Clare with the late Queen's raspberry pip brooch, had arrived at the gallery's newly refurbished Sainsbury Wing to a fanfare by Household Cavalry state trumpeters, as the late Queen had when opening the original wing in 1991. They then met supporters and donors to the gallery, including members of the Sainsbury family and the broadcaster, Andrew Marr.
Today's royal visit also marked the official re-opening of the Sainsbury Wing after a two-year transformation for the gallery's 200th anniversary. In 1984, Charles controversially described a proposed extension to the gallery as a "monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend". The extension, designed by architect Peter Ahrends, was scrapped and the final more traditional design, built in 1991, was created by the partnership Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown instead. The intervention incensed many architects who felt Charles's comments made him an enemy of modern design.
Sir Gabriele Finaldi, the gallery's director, and John Booth, the chair, introduced Charles and Camilla to the gallery's architect, Annabelle Selldorf, and some of the project building and design team, including Hannah Lawson, the architect for the new Roden Centre for Creative Learning, which they briefly viewed at the end of the visit.
After unveiling a plaque to mark the re-opening, Charles and Camilla also had a look at the gallery's new restaurant by Italian chef Giorgio Locatelli and his wife, Plaxy. They then took a tour of the gallery, seeing some of the works on loan from the Royal Collection including Andrea Mantegna's series 'The Triumphs of Caesar,' which Charles had personally asked to see, and a painting of Adam and Eve by Jan Gossaert. Other works which they saw on their tour of the gallery, which was closed to the public until they left at 11.35am, included the Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck and a 14th century crucifix by Segna di Bonaventura suspended in the air - the first time the gallery has hung a work from the ceiling.
Before leaving the gallery, Camilla was presented with a posy by eight-year-old Maria Finaldi, the niece of the gallery's director. 'Thank you, they're my favourite flowers, and that's a very good curtsey,' Camilla told her. Before making their way into the State Bentley, Charles and Camilla quickly greeted a group of well-wishers and school pupils who had gathered outside the gallery's back entrance.
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