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Prince William started with a few words of traditional Maori. He
then apologised to the Governor-General if Prince George had kept
him up at night and said: “I swear I heard him doing the Hakka this
morning”, which received plenty of laughs from the audience. The
Duke went on to talk about his private visits to the Island
nation. He also made special note for the people of Christchurch
for being so resilient, as many are still recovering from a 6.3
magnitude earthquake that left around 15,00o people hurt and 185
dead in 2011.
The portrait was commissioned for permanent display in the Portrait
Gallery of New Zealand for everyone to see. “The New Zealand
Portrait Gallery is a national institution so this portrait now
belongs to the people of New Zealand. We hope as many people as
possible will come to see it”, Keith Ovenden, the gallery’s
chairman of trustees, said.
The portrait was painted by Nick Cuthell, a kiwi artist who
has been a finalist in the New Zealand biennial Adam Portrait
Award before. Nick requested Her Majesty wear a blue dress and
her silver New Zealand fern brooch, which the Duchess of
Cambridge was seen wearing when she arrived in Wellington. Her
Majesty graciously agreed with his request.
Mr Cuthell travelled to London and spent an hour with The Queen,
who sat for photographs and his initial sketch in Buckingham
Palace’s Yellow Drawing Room. He was quoted saying: “Her majesty is
a busy woman, so to get an hour with her was great…it was a dream
come true to paint The Queen”.
Photo Credit: Government House, New Zealand]]>
Being ‘rail thin’, the Duchess should refrain from wearing all black, silhouette hugging dresses. Someone really needs to advise her on her hairstyle which was fine as a student at Cambridge and in her twenties. She’s now a woman of thirty-two years of age and when carrying out royal engagements should be advised to wear an appropriate updo or have the stringy locks pulled back from her face. I believe it’s been reported the Duchess of Cornwall addressed this with her but evidently to no avail. Of course, her raccoon, blacked lined eyemake-up could certainly use a bit of softening, too. Far too heavy and a lighter touch would do more to enhance her features than the harsh eye-make up she continues to wear.