A vivid figure in red depicting the monarch in the uniform of the Welsh Guards, the first completed portrait of King Charles III since his coronation.
LONDON – King Charles III has unveiled the first portrait of the monarch completed since he ascended the throne, a stark image of him in the bright red uniform of the Welsh Guards against a background of similar colours.
The larger-than-life painting by artist Jonathan Yeo features the king straddling the point of his sword with a butterfly flying over his right shoulder. Charles got his first look at the canvas at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday.
The then Prince of Wales began the portrait sitting at Highgrove Gardens in June 2021, a year before John Charles became king. The last session took place in November 2023 at Clarence House, one of the King’s residences in London.
„When I started this project, His Majesty the King was still His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, and as the butterfly I painted hovered over his shoulder, the portrait had evolved, and the role of the subject in our public life had changed,” Yeo said.
The portrait, which measures approximately 8 1/2 x 6 1/2 feet, will be on display at Philip Mold Gallery in London from May 16 to June 14. From the end of August, it will be on display at Drapers Hall across the country. city.
The portrait was commissioned to celebrate 50 years of Charles as a member of the Drapers’ Company, a trade association for wool merchants formed 600 years ago.
Philanthropy became part of their mission, and the company is now a grant-making organization.