New Kate Middleton Painting Sparks Criticism Amid Her Cancer Battle

A painting of Kate Middleton is drawing some attention. The same month that King Charles III's red-toned portrait made headlines, a painting of the Princess of Wales is facing its own criticism.

The painting of Kate, who's currently battling cancer, is featured on the cover of Tatler's July issue.

This is the third year that the magazine has featured a portrait of a royal on its July cover; Queen Elizabeth II was on the 2022 installment, and Charles followed in 2023.

To create the painting of Kate, British-Zambian artist Hannah Uzor studied more than 189,000 photos of the princess.

"When you can't meet the sitter in person," Uzor told the outlet, "you have to look at everything you can find and piece together the subtle human moments revealed in different photographs."

Ultimately, the artist took inspiration from Kate's appearance at a November 2022 state dinner for the painting.

To the event, which marked the first state banquet of Charles' reign, Kate stunned in a white Jenny Packham gown, which she paired with a historic tiara and jewelry.

"She has really risen up to her role," Uzor said. "She was born for this. She carries herself with such dignity, elegance and grace."

Some fans expressed their discontent with Uzor's work. In the comments section on Instagram, one social media user called the painting "a joke," while another questioned, "Does the artist like Catherine?"

"Job poorly done and Tatler should not have accepted it," one person insisted, with another calling it "a dreadfully poor piece of art."

Charles' recent portrait faced its own set of criticisms. In his painting, artist Jonathan Yeo depicted the sovereign in mostly shades of red as he donned the uniform of the Welsh Guards.

While Yeo said in a statement that he tried "to capture the life experiences and humanity etched into any individual sitter's face," critics online said the red-hued artwork brought up feelings of Hell and blood.

"Without sounding rude this is the worst royal portrait I've ever seen," one person wrote.

The royals' portraits come amid their health battles, as both the king and the princess are undergoing cancer treatment. While Charles has resumed some royal duties, Kate has remained out of the spotlight for the time being.

"She is taking a period of absence away from the spotlight. Sources close to her tell me that her absolute priority is on her recovery and looking after her three young children at the moment," royal expert Katie Nicholl recently told ET. "There's no pressure on her to return to public engagements. There's certainly no expectation, and I think it's going to be some time before we see her resume such public engagements."

Indeed, Buckingham Palace told the BBC in a statement that "the princess is not expected to return to work until it's cleared by her medical team."

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