King Charles and Queen Camilla’s coronation portraits revealed

The coronation portraits of King Charles and Queen Camilla have been revealed.

The portraits have been unveiled by King Charles and Queen Camilla in the Central Hall at the National Gallery.

They are to form part of the royal collection and were painted by two different artists. King Charles chose to be painted by Peter Kuhfeld,
and Queen Camilla selected Paul S. Benney. The portraits will hang in the National Gallery until June 5th. They will then move to the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace, where they can be seen during the summer opening of the palace.

Peter Kuhfeld said, “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 51⁄2 and 31⁄2 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!’”

Paul Benny 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.”