The King’s portrait has been created by Peter Kuhfeld, and the Queen’s by Paul S Benney. They depict the monarch and his consortin their Robes of State, alongside their crowns.
Both have been seen by the public for the first time at the National Gallery, at an event marking its 200th anniversary. It is believed that it is also the first time that the King and Queen have seen the completed portraits.
Queen Camilla said of her portrait: “I just love it”, while the King praised the “wonderful composition” of his.
Artist Peter Kuhfeld, King Charles, Queen Camilla and artist Paul S. Benney pose with their official Coronation state portraits. Photo / Getty Images
Laura Lopes, a gallerist and Queen Camilla’s daughter who joined them for the visit, said of the portrait: “It’s so incredible. It’s very flattering.”
Hitting her daughter playfully on the arm, Camilla, who wore a scarlet crepe dress by Fiona Clare with the late Queen’s raspberry pip brooch to the engagement, joked: “Don’t say it’s very flattering! I just love it.”
Tuesday’s royal visit marked the official re-opening of the Sainsbury Wing after a two-year transformation for the gallery’s 200th anniversary.
The King and Queen met supporters and donors to the gallery, including members of the Sainsbury family and broadcaster Andrew Marr.
The King, a keen patron of the arts and architecture who nevertheless once famously described an extension of the gallery as a “monstrous carbuncle”, unveiled a plaque to mark the completion of a two-year building project and the re-opening of the wing.
King Charles and Queen Camilla pose with their official Coronation state portraits. Photo / Getty Images)
The extension, designed by architect Peter Ahrends, was scrapped, and the final, more traditional design, built in 1991, was created by the partnership of Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown instead.
John Booth, chairman of the National, delivered a short speech of welcome before inviting Their Majesties to unveil their new portraits.
They were greeted inside the wing by a fanfare from the State Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry Band, echoing the welcome that Queen Elizabeth received when she opened the original wing in 1991.
Sir Gabriele Finaldi, director, and Booth will later introduce the King and Queen to architect Annabelle Selldorf and some of the project, building and design team.
They will view the new Roden Centre for Creative Learning and the new restaurant by Giorgio and Plaxy Locatelli.
The King and Queen will also be given a short tour of the gallery to see some of the works of art on loan from the Royal Collection in the redisplay, C C Land: The Wonder of Art, that opens on May 10.
It includes Andrea Mantegna’s painting series called The Triumphs of Caesar.
Later in the day, the Queen visited a newly opened installation of poppies at the Tower of London to commemorate VE Day.
Camilla admired the display of 30,000 ceramic poppies made to resemble a “wound” at the heart of the tower, which was bombed during the Blitz.
Her Majesty, wearing a red wool crepe dress by Fiona Clare and black cape as well as leather gloves adorned with poppies, matched the colours of the display.
She said the display – modelled from the Tower’s 2014 commemorative art installation Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red – was “rather beautiful”.
During the visit, she listened to a reading of a specially commissioned VE 80 poem by Poet Laureate Simon Armitage before planting a ceramic poppy into the ground to complete the installation.
‘A painting both human and regal’
Peter Kuhfeld, who painted the King, was granted five sittings over a year-and-a-half, and said he wanted to paint him as “both human and regal”.
The crown, he said, had its “own sittings”, with the King keen to discuss “certain aspects” of the work.
Paul Benney, who painted the Queen, said he had hoped to capture “humanity and empathy”, having “hours of fascinating and sometimes hilarious conversation” with her as he worked.
Kuhfeld was first commissioned by the King to paint Prince William and Prince Harry when they were aged 5 and 3, and has since travelled overseas with His Majesty as an official tour artist.
The commission was kept a secret, only briefly shared with the artist’s granddaughter when she accidentally spotted the painting in his studio.
“I usually start with drawings to develop my ideas and then move on to several oil studies to work out problems of composition,” said Kuhfeld.
“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 said it had been an “honour, privilege and total pleasure” to undertake the first official portrait of her since the Coronation.
“It is with some regret that the sittings for this important commission have come to an end,” he added.
“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 sometimes 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.”
After being on display at the National Gallery, of which the King is royal patron, the paintings will move to a permanent home in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace, where they can be seen by tourists during the annual summer opening.
The tradition of state portraits dates back to the coronation of James VI in 1620.
Following royal custom, the portrait of the King includes the Imperial State Crown, placed on a table to one side. He is wearing his Robe of State and naval uniform Number 1 Ceremonial Day Dress with medals and decorations.
The Queen’s portrait includes Queen Camilla’s crown, formerly known as Queen Mary’s crown. She wears her Coronation dress, which was designed by Bruce Oldfield.
The new portraits were unveiled shortly after a new collection of artworks commemorating the Coronation.
Commissioned by the King, other paintings and monochrome images show the Gold State Coach procession, heralds waiting to take part in events and the King and Queen during the Westminster Abbey coronation.
The King followed a long-held tradition and commissioned five artists to capture significant events from the Coronation weekend, with four of the creatives being former students from his Royal Drawing School.
The Coronation was held on May 6, 2023, and the King saw the finished pieces, now part of the Royal Collection, last September during a presentation at his Clarence House home.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday night, the King joined Sir David Attenborough for his new film premiere about the world’s oceans.
The monarch, a lifelong environmentalist and sustainability advocate, attended the premiere to watch Attenborough’s latest nature documentary, which calls attention to the importance of the ocean for the survival of life on Earth.
The event comes ahead of Attenborough’s 99th birthday on Thursday, for which the Prince of Wales recently paid a heartfelt tribute, describing him as a “true giant” and an inspiration to “my children and me”.
