The Duchess of Cambridge’s 40th birthday portrait has been unveiled in the village church of her hometown in Berkshire.
Kate, 40, was photographed by Italian fashion photographer Paolo Roversi in Kew Gardens, with three images being released to the public.
The first, showing the Duchess in profile in a breathtaking Alexander McQueen gown, has gone on display at St James the Less Church in Pangbourne, Berkshire, which has welcomed the Middleton family as parishioners for generations.
The remaining two will be exhibited at the Wardlaw Museum of the University of St Andrews, where Kate went to university, and at Oriel Môn Museum in Anglesey, where she and William lived in the early years of their marriage.
The Duchess of Cambridge’s 40th birthday portrait (pictured) has been unveiled in the village church of her hometown in Berkshire. Kate, 40, was photographed by Italian fashion photographer Paolo Roversi in Kew Gardens, with three images being released to the public
The first portrait, showing the Duchess in profile in a breathtaking Alexander McQueen gown, has gone on display at St James the Less Church in Pangbourne, Berkshire, which has welcomed the Middleton family as parishioners for generations
The village church (pictured) was personally chosen by Kate as the location to house one of her portraits. The portrait will then move to Reading Museum, near to the Royal Berkshire Hospital where she was born
The photographs feature as part of COMING HOME, a nationwide initiative which sees portraits of well known individuals being sent to locations with which they are closely associated.
Kate has been Patron of the Gallery since 2012, one of the first patronages taken on after her marriage to Prince William, recognising her interest in photography and portraiture.
The locations that Roversi’s three portraits are displayed in were selected in consultation with The Duchess herself, who has a special affinity to each.
The photograph of the Duchess will be on display at St James the Less Church from 22 March to 5 April. It will then move to Reading Museum, which is close to the Royal Berkshire Hospital, where the Duchess was born.
The second portrait will be displayed at the University of St Andrews from 13 June to 30 September and the third will be displayed at Anglesey’s Oriel Môn between 16 July and 2 October.
This portrait of the Duchess of Cambridge in a red Alexander McQueen gown will be displayed at the University of St Andrews, where Kate and William met, from 13 June to 30 September
Released to mark Kate’s 40th birthday in January, the stylish photographs mark a dramatic departure from images we are more used to seeing of the Duchess in formal poses or surrounded by her family.
A Palace source said: ‘From the three photographs, you can see the three aspects of Kate’s personality.
‘There is the regal side to her – as you can see in the classic shot where she is looking off into the distance; there is the more informal image in the red dress as a modern woman at 40; and then there is the close-up, which offers a more intimate perspective.’
Two are black and white and one shows Kate in colour.
In the eye-catching colour shot, Kate looks into the camera, her hand elegantly resting in the pocket of a one-shoulder red dress while her hair billows out over her shoulder.
This third portrait of the Duchess will go on display at Oriel Môn Museum in Anglesey, where she and William lived in the early years of their marriage
As in all the images, her jewellery is limited to just one pair of earrings – in this case diamonds borrowed from the Queen’s private collection – so her expression is the focus.
In the black-and-white pictures, Kate wears Princess Diana’s Collingwood pearl and diamond earrings, while in the side-on portrait her engagement ring, also previously belonging to Prince William’s late mother, is prominent.
The dresses are all by Alexander McQueen, the same design house that created Kate’s wedding dress in 2011.
In the black-and-white close-up, Kate looks straight into the camera, wearing a recycled silk Jacquard lace organza and tulle dress, which was created from remnants of past McQueen collections stitched together.
A Palace source said that for the side-on shot, Kate, who studied art history at St Andrews University, was inspired by the work of Cecil Beaton, the revered photographer who captured historic images of the Queen and Princess Margaret.
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