New Portrait of King Charles: People Have A Lot of Thoughts

[appalachiablue]

BBC, May 14, 2024. The first painted portrait of Charles III since his coronation has been unveiled at Buckingham Palace.

The vast oil on canvas shows a larger-than-life King Charles in the uniform of the Welsh Guards. The vivid red work, measuring about 8ft 6in by 6ft 6in, is by Jonathan Yeo, who has also painted Tony Blair, Sir David Attenborough and Malala Yousafzai.

Queen Camilla is said to have looked at the painting and told Yeo: "Yes, you've got him." In the new portrait, the King is depicted, sword in hand, with a butterfly landing on his shoulder.

Unveilings are always a little nerve-wracking, both for the sitter and the artist, but particularly when one of them is a King. Yeo jokes: "If this was seen as treasonous, I could literally pay for it with my head, which would be an appropriate way for a portrait painter to die - to have their head removed!"

In reality, Yeo isn't going to lose his head of course - no executions for a badly received portrait of a monarch, in modern times anyway... More + Ptg. Close Up,
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-68981200

CNN,
https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/15/style/video/king-charles-portrait-unveiled-jonathan-yeo-cprog-digvid