Artist Jonathan Yeo made a playful remark at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, saying, “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.” This comment came during the unveiling of the first official portrait of King Charles III since his coronation, which occurred just over a year ago.
The impressive painting, which measures 2.8 meters high by 2.2 meters wide, depicts the monarch dressed in his Welsh Guards military uniform, leaning on a sword. Notably, the artwork is dominated by shades of pink, marking a significant departure from traditional royal portraiture.
King Charles was not entirely unprepared for Yeo’s modern interpretation, as he had the opportunity to view the painting before its completion. According to Yeo, the monarch was “surprised” but “smiling approvingly.”
“My aim was also to make reference to the traditions of royal portraiture but in a way that reflects a 21st-century monarchy and, above all else, to communicate the subject’s deep humanity,” Yeo explained.
The portrait was commissioned in 2020 to celebrate the then-Prince of Wales’s 50 years of involvement with The Drapers’ Company, a charitable organization, in 2022. The painting is set to be displayed at London’s Drapers’ Hall.
A unique feature of the painting is a butterfly, which the artist included to symbolize “metamorphosis and rebirth.” This element floats near King Charles’s shoulder. Yeo elaborated, “When I started this project, His Majesty The King was still His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, and much like the butterfly I’ve painted hovering over his shoulder, this portrait has evolved as the subject’s role in our public life has transformed.”
King Charles sat for the portrait four times, each session lasting about an hour. Yeo praised the monarch for being “impressively still” and noted his “great sense of humor” during the sittings, the last of which took place in November 2023. King Charles has served as a Regiment Colonel of the Welsh Guards since 1975.
In February, Buckingham Palace announced that King Charles had been diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer. As a result, he refrained from public-facing duties for 12 weeks. However, he was cleared by doctors to resume his engagements late last month. Although few details about his condition have been disclosed, King Charles mentioned to British veteran and cancer survivor Aaron Mapplebeck at an event in Hampshire on Monday that he had lost his sense of taste during treatment.
Jonathan Yeo has a history of painting the royal family, having previously portrayed Queen Camilla in 2014 and the late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in 2008.
