The Duchess of Cambridge has worn Alexander McQueen throughout her royal career and returned to the designer for a particularly special set of images.
Photographer Paolo Roversi’s photographs will hang in a permanent exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery starting in 2023, meaning the outfits are for the ages—not just her milestone birthday.
Quoted by The Guardian, Roversi said: “Taking the portrait of Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge was a true honour for me and a moment of pure joy.
“I was moved by her warmth and friendly welcome and enchanted by her shining eyes that reflected the loveliness of her soul and her smile showing the generosity of her heart.
“It was a profound and rich experience for me, an unforgettable moment. I have met a wonderful person, a person who, with her positive energy, can bring hope to the whole world.”
In one image, she wore a similar dress to the Alexander McQueen gown she wore to the Earthshot Prize ceremony at Alexandra Palace, London, in October 2021.
The event was one of the biggest dates in husband Prince William’s calendar as he announced the first winners of the awards, for innovative solutions to the climate crisis.
That blue Alexander McQueen was itself recycled from a trip to America by the couple in 2011, when they visited Santa Barbara, near where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle live now.
Kate wore a red, one-shoulder dress in another of the three pictures, which were all taken at Kew Gardens in November.
The outfit was more bold, though just as bright, as another Alexander McQueen look from a visit to the Anna Freud Centre, in London, on December 15, 2015.
This is not the first time Kate has picked Alexander McQueen outfits knowing they would be remembered for years to come.
Her wedding dress was by the same designer at the fashion house, Sarah Burton, and stunned crowds at Westminster Abbey, on April 29, 2011, when she married Prince William.
A Kensington Palace spokesperson said: “Taken at Kew Gardens in November 2021 by photographer Paolo Roversi, the portraits will enter the permanent Collection of the National Portrait Gallery, of which The Duchess is Patron.
“Ahead of the Gallery’s re-opening in 2023, the photographs will feature as part of its Coming Home project, a nationwide initiative which sees portraits of well-known individuals being sent to locations which they are closely associated with.
“The project has enabled works from the National Portrait Gallery’s national Collection to travel to towns and cities across the UK, providing communities with the opportunity to see famous works locally.
“The new images of The Duchess will be displayed over the course of 2022 in three places which have a special meaning to Her Royal Highness: Berkshire, St Andrews and Anglesey.”
