Prince William and Prince Harry's picture no longer on show at National Portrait Gallery


The painting was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery in early 2008 and depicts the two princes, both in their 20s at the time, wearing the dress uniform of the Blue and Royals.

They sat for the portrait at the artist’s home in South Kensington, with Ms Philipps recalling they were “so sweet, so close.”

Sandy Nairne, the director of the gallery, said at the time: “The first portrait of the princes captures them formally dressed, but informally posed.

“It is a delightful image, which extends the tradition of royal portraiture.”

According to The Times, the decision to remove the portrait was not made by the Royal Family, news both the gallery and Kensington Palace have confirmed.

A gallery spokesman said: “Decisions relating to the portraits on display at the National Portrait Gallery are made by the gallery’s curatorial team.

“With over 250,000 portraits in our collection, we are only able to display a small percentage within our building. However, as one of the world’s largest and most important collections of portraits, we regularly lend and tour our works, both nationally and internationally.

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“This portrait by Nicky Philipps was included in a touring exhibition, Tudors to Windsors, which travelled between 2018 and 2021. The portrait was last displayed at the gallery between March and August 2018.”

In 2018, Harry married his wife Meghan Markle, with the couple making the decision to step down as working royals and move to California just two years later.

Harry and William’s relationship has deteriorated over the past years, with Harry alleging in his book Spare that William physically attacked him during a fight in 2019.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have made a number of claims about their time as royals through tell-all interviews, Harry’s memoir Spare and their Netflix docu-series Harry and Meghan.

However, according to an insider the couple are making a decision to stop producing royal content and will be changing direction with their new projects.

The source told The Sun: “That period of their life is over — as there is nothing left to say.”

The Sussexes have already begun working on projects separate from their royal life, with Meghan’s podcast Archetypes being released last year in which she interviews various celebrity guests.

Their non-fiction series Live to Lead, which hit Netflix on New Year’s Eve 2022, also included a number of interviews with inspirational figures.

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