Royal fans are all saying the same thing about King Charles and Queen Camilla’s Coronation portraits as they spot unusual detail

The King and Queen unveiled their official Coronation state portraits at the National Gallery on Tuesday to mark the second anniversary of the historic event.

However, the artwork has since caused a stir online after The Royal Family‘s X account shared snaps of the paintings.

Royal fans were quick to brand Peter Kuhfeld’s portrait of King Charles ‘blurry’ and ‘out of focus’, while others suggested Queen Camilla’s picture by Paul S. Benney was ‘much better’ than His Majesty’s painting.

One person wrote on X: ‘Charles’s portrait looks like a Wallace and Gromit character – you can imagine it hanging in Wallace’s house. Camilla’s portrait is lovely.’

Another said: ‘His face is very blurry. Camilla’s portrait was giving more presence and depth than Charles’s.’

‘I think Camilla’s is much better,’ someone else insisted, while a fourth individual wrote: ‘The Queen’s is perfect. The King’s too blurry.’

‘Looks blurry. Out of focus,’ a fifth agreed. A sixth person said: ‘Compared to the level of detail in previous ones, King Charles’ portrait looks… cheap. Lighting and composition are good, though.

Another wrote: ‘Comparing the portraits of King and Queen, I think she’s come out of it much better than he has. 

‘There’s something a little underwhelming about his portrait, as if he’s shrinking into the background. There’s a bit more forthright glamour about hers!’

‘I think the King should have gone with the same artist as the Queen,’ insisted another person online, while someone else said: ‘I don’t think I like the one of the King.

‘It’s a bit blurry and he blends into the background too much. But that’s the thing with art, it appeals to some, not others.’

But while the portraits didn’t impress everyone on social media, Their Majesties fortunately appreciated the artwork, with Camilla, 77, saying ‘I just love it’ while the King praised the ‘wonderful composition’ of Mr Kuhfeld’s effort.

It comes after Jonathan Yeo’s fiery portrait of the King – commissioned in 2020 to celebrate the then-Prince of Wales’s 50 years as a member of The Drapers’ Company, and released in May 2024 – proved to be divisive.

Whilst some people praised the painting as ‘magnificent’, the modern approach left others, well, perhaps seeing red thanks to its scarlet hue. It depicts the King wearing the uniform of the Welsh Guards, of which he was made Regimental Colonel in 1975. 

Meanwhile, Their Majesties were met with great fanfare as they had their official Coronation state portraits unveiled at the National Gallery on Tuesday to mark the second anniversary of the crowning of the King at Westminster Abbey on May 6 2023.

In the paintings themselves, Camilla cuts an elegant figure as she wears her Coronation dress by Bruce Oldfield, draped with her robe of state, alongside ‘Queen Camilla‘s crown’ – formerly known as Queen Mary‘s Crown.

Charles, who is royal patron of the National Gallery, is depicted in uniform with the Imperial State Crown and his robe of state.

Mr Kuhfeld said he wanted to paint the King as ‘both human and regal’ while Mr Benney, who painted the Queen, said he hoped to capture her ‘humanity and empathy’.

Now part of The Royal Collection, the portraits were revealed in the Central Hall, followed by the reopening of the refurbished Sainsbury Wing. 

The Queen could be heard telling Mr Benny: ‘I think it’s really lovely’.

Mr Kuhfeld, who took more than 18 months to complete the painting after five sittings with the King, said: ‘I think he was pleased. 

‘It’s a very odd thing for a sitter to look at themselves, I just hope that I’ve got an aspect of the man and King, I just think that’s very important.’

The artist was commissioned by the King to paint his sons when young boys and has also worked as Charles’ official overseas tour artist on a number of trips.

He added: ‘He’s a wonderfully interesting person in his own right, as a person, not King or Prince of Wales, just a very interesting person. And that was one of the things I was really keen in trying to bring out in the painting.’

Mr Kuhfeld said that during preparatory work for the painting, a period when his studio is closed to family and friends, ‘…my eldest granddaughter forgot, when coming to tell me supper was ready; she burst through the door and came to a standstill and exclaimed, “Oh! It’s the King!”‘

Raven Coetzer, aged nine, was invited to the unveiling and after meeting the King said about her grandfather the artist: ‘I think it’s really good, he did put his heart and soul into it.’

Mr Benny set up a studio in Clarence House’s garden sitting room for almost a year and the Queen sat for him six times when she had moments free: ‘I was able to go in and out and every couple of weeks I was in there.’ 

The artist added: ‘Extremely pleasurable on my part, I think Her Majesty the Queen enjoyed them. 

‘I like to talk when I’m painting – I’ve managed to develop that skill over the years, I’m able to do two things at once – so we had lots of talks and chats and stories.

‘Every time I’d leave, I’d be holding my tummy because I’d been laughing so much – the Queen’s very witty.’

He added: ‘My guiding principles in this commission were to both acknowledge the grand and historic nature of the coronation iconography with all the equipage of the monarchy and at the same time reveal the humanity and empathy of such an extraordinary person taking on an extraordinary role.’

Before leaving, Charles and Camilla toured the space and met participants in the gallery’s outreach education programme.

The artwork will be exhibited in the hall for the next six weeks, before being installed in Buckingham Palace’s Throne Room as part of the Royal Collection, where they will be on display for the palace’s annual summer opening.

They will form part of a long tradition of coronation portraits dating back centuries, with the earliest known example being a painting of James VI and I by Paul van Somer which hangs at Windsor Castle.

After unveiling the paintings in the central hall and posing for pictures with the artists, Charles and Camilla spoke with Kuhfeld and Benney, who were personally chosen by the King and Queen, being previously known to them from former royal commissions. 

‘Hello Paul, lovely to see you,’ said Camilla, before beckoning over her daughter, Laura Lopes, who joined the King and Queen for the visit. 

Camilla recalled how Laura, a gallerist, had seen the early stages of the portrait during her sittings with the artist at Clarence House.

‘It’s so incredible,’ Laura said, ‘it’s very flattering.’

Hitting her daughter playfully on the arm, Camilla joked: ‘Don’t say it’s very flattering! I just love it.’

Before leaving the gallery, Camilla was presented with a posy by eight-year-old Maria Finaldi, the niece of the gallery’s director. ‘Thank you, they’re my favourite flowers, and that’s a very good curtsey,’ Camilla told her.

And before making their way into the State Bentley, Charles and Camilla quickly greeted a group of well-wishers and school pupils who had gathered outside the gallery’s back entrance.