Why Is Kate Middleton’s Official Portrait So Bad?

Even if you’re not a royals watcher, you can’t avoid the saga of Will and Kate. Kate Middleton—wife of Prince William, current Duchess of Cambridge, possibly future Queen of England, and mother-to-be of future kings and/or queens—recently came face to face with a rite of passage for all royals—the dreaded official portrait.  Sadly, the renowned fashion trend setter found herself immersed in an old trend of a different fashion—smiling bravely as the public and critics find fault with your likeness, Paul Emsley’s larger-than-life likeness (detail shown above). Emsley’s an award-winning artist with obvious skills, but the resulting official portrait’s been called everything from “dull” to “rotten.” How, when your subject is a young, beautiful, vivacious woman on top of the world, can you make a portrait so bad? Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "Why Is Kate Middleton’s Official Portrait So Bad?"

[Image: Paul Emsley. Kate Middleton (detail), 2012.]