Artist Behind Kate Middleton's 'Dreadful' Tatler Portrait Addresses Criticism; Says Artwork Is More About The Princess' 'Soul'

Hannah Uzor, the British-Zambian artist who created Kate Middleton's latest portrait, spoke about her artwork after it received intense backlash online.

On Wednesday, Tatler released its July 2024 cover featuring a portrait of the Princess of Wales. The artwork raised several eyebrows and attracted intense backlash on social media, with many calling it "dreadful" and embarrassing. Daily Telegraph's chief art critic Alastair Sooke even described it as "egregiously, intolerably, jaw-hits-the-floor bad," but Uzor seemed unbothered.

In a new interview with the Daily Mail, Uzor said she was not aware that her work sparked debate on social media. She also seemingly dismissed the criticisms.

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"It is a fantastic story -- and they [critics] can do what they want," she said.

She also proudly shared that most of her paintings only took two or three days, but Middleton's took three weeks because she wanted to capture the future queen's "soul," and her work aimed to "challenge assumptions."

Although many seemed to belittle her talent, calling the artwork amateurish and lacking any resemblance to Middleton, the artist doubled down on her statement that it was more about Middleton's soul and not just her physical appearance.

"It's really important to capture the soul of the person, so I spent a lot of time looking [at Kate], looking at her pictures, watching videos of her, seeing her with her family, seeing her in diplomatic visits, seeing her when she's rowing or visiting children in a hospice. It's been really interesting for me to get a sense of who she is," she told Tatler magazine, who commissioned the portrait.

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Uzor's portrait of Middleton received mixed responses from the netizens. Several expressed their disappointment, with some saying they had second-hand embarrassment after seeing it.

"I don't understand this painting. I don't see a resemblance to the princess in any way. Not in her features, expression, body shape, skin color. I understand the artist talking about layers of a person etc, but surely if the end product is such that if you can't guess who it is, then it can't be a success. It is, after all, a portrait," one critic commented on Tatler's post featuring Uzor talking about the artwork.

However, a few appreciated it. One defended Uzor and claimed that portraits are different from photography and that they don't have to perfectly copy the person's face but their "mood."

"I truly love the painting. Art isn't the same as photography, it doesn't mean to represent a person's appearance exactly as it is but to show the mood, the aura, the feeling about the person that an artist draws!" a supporter of Uzor wrote. "Frankly, I simply can't understand the whole negativity here, it just feels strange. The princess looks so peaceful and beautiful in the picture. I like her shyness. It feels very real."