Kate Middleton Portrait Revealed, Royal Couple Impressed With New Painting of Duchess
Kate Middleton is the inspiration behind yet another painter's work in Scotland who revealed his portrait to the royal and her husband, Prince William, this week.
Tom Sutton-Smith of the Forteviot village near Perth rendered a colorful portrait of the 32-year-old Duchess who received it as a gift on Thursday, May 29. The new portrait arrives one year after the Duchess of Cambridge's highly-criticized official portrait at the National Portrait Gallery in London. The new work may actually make it into the Duke and Duchess of Cambridges' home, according to Glenys Andrews, who made sure that the royal couple received Sutton-Smith's work.
"When William saw it, he said, 'Wow, it's brilliant. That's going up in my room,'" Andrews told People.com.
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Prince William's wife and the subject of the painting agreed.
"Her face lit up," Andrews said of Kate. "She was wowed by it. She reached out her arms to hold it and stared at it."
Although the artist was not present when the royals received the portrait of Middleton, Sutton-Smith said he is "excited" to hear the "rewarding" news that they liked it.
"I was trying to convey her youthful spirit," he told People.com. "The official portrait was serious, and in all the photos one see of her she is smiling and laughing. She is kind of sparkly and I was trying to convey that in the eyes and mouth, which are the essential features to give character."
Meanwhile, the Duke and Duchess' trip to Scotland marks their first official engagement since the three week tour of Australia and New Zealand in April. Furthermore, the appearance arrived just days after a German publication drew ire by posting a photo of Middleton's bare bottom after wind had blown up her skirt during the trip to Australia. While reports suggested that Prince William and the royal family were "furious" over the photo, Will and Kate appeared in high spirits along their visit to the Strathearn Community Campus in Crieff, Scotland on Thursday.
