Kate Middleton portrait enrages public: 'Is this a joke?'

A new portrait of Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, by a British Zambian artist has elicited extreme dissatisfaction. 

It comes just one week after a portrait of King Charles III was unveiled at Buckingham Palace and received mixed reviews. Catherine's was not an official portrait, and was revealed on the cover of Tatler magazine's July issue. It depicts the princess in a white gown adorned with a yellow brooch and blue sash. She wears an ornate tiara on her head. The inspiration behind the photograph seems to stem from several of Catherine's previous looks.

Social media users were enraged by the final product, firing off a litany of insults in the comments section of the magazine's Instagram.

KATE MIDDLETON'S PLANS TO RETURN TO WORK UPDATED BY KENSINGTON PALACE AS PRINCESS FOCUSES ON CHARITY PROJECT

A new portrait of the Princess of Wales appears on the cover of Tatler Magazine. (Hannah Uzor/Tatler)

• "Is this a joke?"
• "Awful. Almost anti Royal putting this on [the] front cover of a magazine"
• "Wait, did lil Louis paint this?"
• "Omg! HORRIBLE!!!!!!"
• "Ghastly portrait."
• "The Princess of Wales is not even comparable to this picture."
• "Sorry but this portrait failed to capture the essence of Princess Catherine in every possible way."
• "Why make one eye smaller than the other? There is literally not a bad photo of her in existence. To make such unflattering portrait when you have all the time you need time to produce something amazing is quite incredible."
• "Catherine will not be happy and I can’t blame her."

The Princess of Wales, accompanied by the Prince of Wales, wears a nearly identical outfit to what is shown in her portrait. This photo was taken in 2022 during a visit from the president of South Africa. (Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

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Princess Catherine wore a similar ensemble during the state visit of the president of the Republic Of Korea in 2023. (Getty Images)

The artist, Hannah Uzor, told Tatler that she "spent a lot of time looking at [Catherine], looking at her pictures, watching videos of her, seeing her with her family, seeing her in diplomatic visits, seeing her when she's rowing or visiting children in a hospice."

"It's been really interesting for me to get a sense of who she is," Uzor continued. "The process for painting this portrait, apart from studying the photographs and the videos, is actually coming up with a sketch. So once I'm happy with a sketch and I've done a series of sketches in my sketchbook, particularly looking at her expression was really key. And so I've done several sketches trying to capture her expression. And once I'm happy with that, I can then proceed to figure out what she's going to wear."

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"This particular outfit that I chose was particularly striking. It made her look very regal and very confident. And alongside of that – definitely color. Color is one of the most important things in a work of art ‘cause it can really speak to the atmosphere. And the color I chose was something that really compliments Kate Middleton's green eyes."

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Kate Middleton announced she had cancer in a pre-recorded message shared in March. (The Prince and Princess of Wales Twitter)

In March, the Princess of Wales announced in a pre-recorded message that she had been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy. She has not been seen publicly in several months.

Representatives for Kensington Palace and Tatler magazine did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

Caroline Thayer is an entertainment writer for Fox News Digital. Follow Caroline Thayer on Twitter at @carolinejthayer. Story tips can be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..