Kate Middleton.Photo: Paolo Roversi
Photographer Paolo Roversi opened up to Italian newspaperCorriere Della Seraabout working with the Duchess of Cambridge for the portraits, which were taken in November at London’s Kew Gardens. He even shared that Prince William and the couple’s three children — Prince George, 8, Princess Charlotte, 6, and Prince Louis, 3 — helped pick one of the photos that would be shared with the world.
Kate’s family chose the close-up shot of Kate smiling in a one-shoulder dress with her hair swept over her shoulders, and according to the photographer, it’s “where a carefree girl returns.”
Kate Middleton on her 40th birthday.Paolo Roversi
Each of the three portraits shows a “different” side of Kate, Roversi revealed. The black-and-white image where she sits in a traditional side profile pose seen in many royal portraits over the years “is regal and has a maturity that goes beyond her age, and the white dress dampens the seriousness of an effigy.”
Meanwhile, the photo of Kate in a red one-shoulder gown in color is “a little more glamorous.”
Some photos from the shoot have yet to be revealed to the public, including one of Kate dancing.
“In the end I wanted to take pictures in motion, so with that wonderful wide skirt I made her dance in front of my camera, a kind of accelerated waltz mixed with a pinch of rock ‘n roll,” he shared.
The portraits will enter the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery, of which Kate is Patron. Ahead of the Portrait Gallery’s re-opening in 2023, the photographs will be part of its Coming Home project, a nationwide initiative that sees portraits of well-known individuals being sent to locations that they are closely associated with.
The Duchess of Cambridge’s new photos will be displayed over the course of 2022 in three places that hold special meaning to Kate: Berkshire, St. Andrews and Anglesey.
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Kate grew up in Bucklebury, Berkshire, and often returns to spend time with her parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, who still live in the quiet village.
The Cambridge family’s 2021 Christmas card.Duke and Duchess of Cambridge/Instagram
St. Andrews is an important spot for both Kate andPrince Williamas they met as freshmen at the University of St. Andrews in 2002.
source: people.com
