A photo of Catherine, Princess of Wales published by Tatler magazine has sparked controversy

CNN
—

new photo of catherine, Princess of Wales It sparked controversy online, with some royal admirers criticizing the work for its depiction of the future British queen.

The painting by British-Zambian artist Hannah Ozor appeared on the cover of the July issue of Tatler magazine. It aims to honor the princess’s “strength and dignity,” according to a statement from the publication sent to CNN Thursday.

It depicts Catherine appearing at the first state banquet of the reign of King Charles III, and Ozor said she studied images of the princess while creating the work.

“When you can’t meet the sitter in person, you have to look at everything you can find and piece together the subtle human moments that appear in different images: Do they have a certain way of standing or holding their head or hands? Do they have a repetitive gesture,” she said in the statement.

Ozor also revealed that Kate’s recent video announcing her cancer diagnosis informed the work.

“All of my photos are made up of layers of character, based on everything I can find about her,” she said in the statement.

However, not everyone appreciated the princess’s portrayal.

“This is awful – somehow, I’m not sure the artist is a fan of the princess – looks like a bad GCSE project,” said one comment under a post from Tatler on X.

“This doesn’t look like the Princess of Wales. It’s so awful, it’s so disrespectful,” another wrote.

Another said: “I agree with the sentiment of strength and dignity, but the photo lacks any resemblance to the Princess of Wales.”

However, some praised the work, with one describing the painting as “beautiful.”

“Am I the only one who likes this? It’s art, not a photo,” another commenter wrote.

Social media users were not the only ones who interacted with the painting.

Alistair Sook, chief arts critic at the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, He said in an article That the painting was “intolerably poor” and “shows no resemblance to its subject.”

“Has there been a flatter, more lifeless royal image in living memory?” Sok wrote. “Under a Lego-like helmet and unedited monotone brown hair, this Princess of Wales has the charisma of a statuette atop a wedding cake.”

Kate Mansi, royal editor at The Times of London, was not one of the positive figures either.

“I’m not quite sure what to say about this, except, well…” she wrote on X.

The backlash comes after similar debate over the first official portrait of King Charles III since his coronation, which was unveiled earlier this month.

The 8.5-by-6.5-foot painting by British artist Jonathan Yeo depicts the king dressed in the uniform of the Welsh Guards, sword in hand, against a fiery red background that seems to almost swallow him whole, as the butterfly appears to be about to land. His shoulder.

While the king is said to be happy with the image, others criticized the bright red brushstrokes, with one person likening it to a “horror movie poster”.