When a young Catherine Middleton enrolled as an art history major at the University of St Andrews, little did she know that not only she’d become the future Queen Consort but also the patron of a range of arts-related charities.
Her passion for photography and art has fuelled her work in the Royal Family just as much as her interest in mental health and the early years, and today she serves as royal patron of a range of arts-focused charities.
Two of her first four patronages announced in 2012 were related to the arts: London’s famed National Portrait Gallery and the children’s charity The Art Room (which has now closed its doors). In fact, her first-ever solo visit to a patronage was to the National Portrait Gallery back in February 2012.
In 2018, Catherine became the first royal patron of the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), reflecting her strong interest in the visual arts. Since then, she has visited a number of exhibitions at the world’s leading museum for art and design.
The Duchess of Cambridge inherited a very special patronage in 2019 when The Queen passed down her role as patron of the Royal Photographic Society. Given Catherine’s interest in photography, the role was a perfect fit for the Duchess, who’s been known to snap the birthday photos released of her children as well as other family photos.
In 2020, the Duchess had the opportunity to photograph two Holocaust survivors and their family members for an exhibition at the Imperial War Museum organised by the Royal Photographic Society. It was no doubt an incredibly special honour for Catherine, who also worked on another inspiring photography project in 2020: Hold Still.
Working with her patronage the National Portrait Gallery, the Duchess of Cambridge invited the public to submit photos documenting life in lockdown. Catherine was able to meet some of the finalists featured in the exhibition, including a sweet five-year-old cancer patient named Mila. One hundred of the photos also were featured in a bestselling book called “Hold Still: A Portrait of Our Nation in 2020,” with Catherine providing the foreword.
“Through Hold Still, I wanted to use the power of photography to create a lasting record of what we were all experiencing – to capture individuals’ stories and document significant moments for families and communities as we lived through the pandemic,” she said.
As the Duchess of Cambridge enters a new decade, there’s no doubt we’ll continue to see more of her photography work as well as her support for patronages in the arts — maybe we’ll even see a photo of The Queen snapped by Catherine?
