The royal family seems to be generating a lot of buzz around royal portraits in May

May has been an interesting month for the royal family when it comes to royal portraits. Not only did we get the first official portrait of the king since his coronation, but we also got a new portrait of Princess Catherine, which was used as the cover for Tatler Magazine.

In both cases, the portraits have generated a significant amount of buzz and not all of it has been positive. For the portrait of King Charles, the fact that the artist chose an overwhelmingly red color palette has left many on social media cracking jokes and taking aim at the king. Comments ranged from comparing the image to a bloody tampon to saying that the king has his own horror movie poster now.

Since the portrait was unveiled on May 14, there has been so much conversation around the overwhelming amount of red used that the artist even had to speak up and explain the choices that he made.

However, the latest royal portrait conversation might be even worse. All things considered, there has been a lot of online chatter around Princess Catherine and her absence from the public eye in 2024. And even with a video explaining that during a routine medical procedure, cancer cells had been found, the public has a lot of questions about the princess and where she is.

So when the royal portrait that would be gracing the cover of Tatler was unveiled, it left social media buzzing. As US Weekly points out, the princess did not actually sit for this portrait, and instead the artist used as many pictures as she could in order to paint Princess Catherine. According to the artist, "All my portraits are made up of layers of a personality, constructed from everything I can find about them."

Social media has had plenty to say about the portrait, with some going so far as to say that there is no way that this painting is actually of the Princess of Wales. While others have called it an "insult" or "cruel."

Sadly, there have also been plenty of racial attacks against the artist, beyond the actual critiques of the art itself. One X (formerly Twitter) user even stated that they thought the artist was chosen because of her skin color and not her talent. And while we can understand people being unhappy with the way the portrait turned out, there is simply no reason for the racism being shown. Because at the end of the day, that is exactly what the attacks on the artist are...racist attacks.

Although both the King Charles and the Princess Catherine portraits may not be what most people would expect, it is hard to deny that a lot of work went into both pieces. And even if you don't think these are the right representations for the royal family, the hate they have garnered is certainly next level.

Hopefully the buzz around both portraits dies down and we can move on to something new to talk about. And we really hope whatever that new thing is, it is definitely in a more positive direction.