Portraits of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, are to be displayed in places she feels a “special affinity” to.
The 40-year-old royal’s birthday pictures, which are part of the National Portrait Gallery’s collection, are to go on tour to small venues as part of the ‘Coming Home’ project, which sends images of famous people to meaningful sites.
Nicholas Cullinan, Director of the National Portrait Gallery, said: “The Duchess of Cambridge has been a very committed patron of the National Portrait Gallery since 2012, reflecting a great interest in photography and portraiture.
“As one of her first and earliest patronages, we are delighted to be sharing Paolo Roversi’s wonderful portraits, taking each to a place of resonance across the United Kingdom for Her Royal Highness as part of our Coming Home project.”
One picture of Catherine, showing her seated in profile, will be loaned to Reading Museum near the Royal Berkshire Hospital, where the duchess was born, while another of her in a red dress will be displayed at the Wardlaw Museum at the University of St. Andrews, where the royal met her now-husband, Prince William.
Another picture will be displayed in a case at St. James the Less church in Pangbourne, Berkshire, the parish church attended by several generations of her family over the years, and the fourth will go to the Oriel Mon, a small gallery in Anglesey where William and Catherine lived after they first got married.
The photographs will be free to view in a bid to boost tourism, and all four locations were chosen in consultation with the duchess herself, who feels a “special affinity” to each.
All four venues have put extra security measures in place and will be supervised during opening hours, with the church and the Wardlaw Museum loaning items from the National Portrait Gallery for the first time.
The Right Reverend Dr Steven Croft, Bishop of Oxford, said the church was “thrilled” to be displaying the photograph.
He said of some potential visitors: “It might even be the first time they are inside a church building and experience something that is outside of typical Sunday worship”.
And Reading Museum manager Matthew Williams believes the royal display would “provide a welcome boost after what has been a difficult two years for museums everywhere, including our own”.
He added: “The duchess was born in Reading’s Royal Berkshire Hospital so we have always considered her a Reading girl, and it is fantastic to be able to bring her home, even if only in portrait form for now!”