This year, we’ve seen a surprising number of royal “portraits.” A few months ago, Jonathan Yeo unveiled his portrait of King Charles to widespread acclaim. Soon after, Tatler commissioned Hannah Uzor to do a large-scale portrait of the Princess of Wales, to widespread mockery. Yeo’s portrait of Charles actually looked like him and it was thought-provoking. It slapped, honestly. Uzor’s portrait of the then-missing Kate was just flat and very basic. Well, the trend of royal portraiture continues. British artist Dan Llywelyn Hall has a new exhibition called The Reign, in which he painted some modern royals to look like historic royals. As in, the Duchess of Sussex is painted as the White Queen, Elizabeth Grey. Prince Harry is painted as Bonnie Prince Charlie.
The Duchess of Sussex has been portrayed as the White Queen in a nod to her “influential” outsider status. Artist Dan Llywelyn Hall depicted Meghan, 42, as Dame Elizabeth Grey, who became Queen of England after marrying Edward IV in 1464, and Prince Harry, 39, as Charles Edward Stuart, otherwise known as Bonnie Prince Charlie.
He said: “I thought putting Meghan in the role of the White Queen, who was a queen consort and possibly the most influential ‘outsider’ in royal history, might have a fine irony to it and not necessarily beyond the realms of reality.”
Mr Llywelyn Hall, who at 32 was the youngest artist to paint Elizabeth II, has produced 10 new portraits inspired by royalty throughout history for the Society of Antiquaries. Artist Adam Dant has painted a further 10 works. Their exhibition, titled The Reign, marks the 150th anniversary of the society, which is based at Burlington House in London’s Piccadilly, and will be auctioned to support the cataloguing and digitisation of around 25,000 prints and drawings from the 18th and 19th centuries.
Mr Llywelyn Hall said: “The Royal family is possibly the most enthralling longest-running drama in history, the inspiration of theatre, books and every art form. It seemed that these figures caught on the knife edge of public opinion were ideal for drawing comparisons from distant monarchs – like the exiled princes and princesses of the past, that lurk in the background but are still irrevocably tied to the job. We can’t help ourselves and wonder whatever next?”
He added: “In Harry’s case, I have entered the story before he met Meghan – the young party-goer with his future very much in the balance, a bit like the Bonnie Prince I have likened him to.”
Hall’s artistry seems in the same vein as Lucian Freud, and I would guess that Freud is an inspiration for Hall. As for the paintings themselves…the Harry piece bears a resemblance, I’ll admit, although it’s giving “Henry VIII” more than Prince Harry. Meghan-as-the-White-Queen though… I’m not so sure. Anyway, I hope these paintings sell! At least they’re interesting.
Portraits courtesy of Dan Llywelyn Hall’s Instagram.