I judge royal portraits on a sliding scale, or maybe I just enjoy debating whether artists actually capture the essence of certain royals. Jonathan Yeo’s “bloody” portrait of King Charles is a masterpiece and possibly the peak of royal portraiture. Paul Emsley’s portrait of Princess Kate was also notable for making Kate look like a bewigleted ghost, haunting all of Britain. In recent years, Tatler has gotten into the “people like to talk about royal portraits” game in a big way, so the magazine has commissioned a series of portraits for their covers. In 2024, they commissioned a Kate portrait where the artist made her look like Minka Kelly – art critics really despised it. Well, Tatler recently commissioned Nigerian artist Oluwole Omofemi to paint a portrait of Prince William, and Tatler put it on their cover. Thoughts?
My first thought was… is that really supposed to be William, or is it secretly supposed to be Lord Frederick Windsor, son of Prince Michael and Princess Michael of Kent? Many have commented on Frederick and William’s resemblance, so it’s not that off-base. Meaning… you can tell who this portrait is supposed to be, in a general way – either William or Frederick. Take your pick. The sad truth is that neither William nor Frederick has that much hair left. Omofemi was really generous with how he did William’s “hair.” The “shadow” falling on William’s face is interesting too – it definitely adds an extra element of ghoulishness.
Tatler’s cover story was bizarrely about Omofemi and not William. You know what? That’s fine. You can read the piece here. Tatler can be so shady about the royals sometimes, I feel like it’s significant that they didn’t barf out some “future king” bullsh-t. Or maybe they just haven’t released that article yet.
Cover courtesy of Tatler, additional photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- Lady Gabriella Kingston and Lord Frederick Windsor at The Coronation of King Charles III at London”s Westminster Abbey 06 May 2023,Image: 774252081, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: -, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Mark Stewart / Avalon
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- Lord Frederick Windsor attends The “Together At Christmas” Carol Service at Westminster Abbey on December 08, 2023 in London, England. Spearheaded by The Princess of Wales, and supported by The Royal Foundation, the service is a moment to bring people together at Christmas time and recognise those who have gone above and beyond to help others throughout the year.,Image: 827900508, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson/Avalon
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- Lord Frederick Windsor and Sophie Winkleman at the Serpentine Gallery Summer Party 2025 at the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens, London, United Kingdom,Image: 1014909103, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Cat Morley/Avalon
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- London, UK, 16th Sep 2025. Lord Frederick Windsor and Lady Windsor (Sophie Winkleman). Mourners, including members of the Royal Family, are seen arriving at Westminster Cathedral for a requiem mass, a Catholic funeral service held for the Duchess of Kent, who passed away on 4 Sep.,Image: 1037840594, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Imageplotter/Avalon
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- 22/02/2026. London, UK. The Prince and Princess of Wales The Prince and Princess of Wales attend the EE BAFTA Film Awards held at the Royal Festival Hall. Their Royal Highnesses met performers and bursary recipients from The Prince William BAFTA Bursary.,Image: 1077470360, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: © Kensington Palace. This image is free for use but may only be used for news or editorial reporting purposes. This image must NOT be used for any commercial or other use, save for news or editorial reporting and cannot be altered or amended in any manner, Model Release: no, Credit line: Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace/Avalon
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- LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 25: Prince William, Prince of Wales speaks to A-level biology students from a local school taking part in a genetic engineering workshop during his visit to the Francis Crick Institute ahead of its 10th anniversary later this year on February 25, 2026 in London, England.,Image: 1078188146, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson/Avalon
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- The Prince of Wales speaks with students during a visit to an environmentally sustainable urban regeneration programme at Sports Boulevard in Riyadh, on day two of his visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Featuring: Prince William, Prince of Wales Where: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia When: 10 Feb 2026 Credit: Isabel Infantes/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Prince and Princess of Wales visit Oriel Davies, a public contemporary art gallery to see a project funded by the Alexandra Reinhardt Memorial Award, focussed on supporting the wellbeing of the children and young people in the local area Featuring: Prince William Where: Newtown, Wales When: 26 Feb 2026 Credit: Doug Peters/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
Too easy
More hair or less hair he still looks like he was hit with an ugly stick!!
Looks too much like a blue eyed Stephen Miller to me in that portrait.. yikes😳.
Omg. I’ve been staring and staring. There’s something disconcerting and just off about it. But now that you said Stephen Miller, I cannot unsee it.
Vladimir Putin vibes
The crooked smirk, one corner up, one corner down, is giving Joker vibes and not in a good way.
And they clearly slapped a Freddie Windsor wig on him, because IRL Bully Idle has about the same amount of hair as the Duke of Gloucester.
The no beard look feels like…a statement by Tatler. I don’t blame the artist for not painting him smiling; Bully’s teeth are a trauma.
Stephen Miller was my first reaction!
So they could not decide wether they wanted to give it a beard or not so just went with a shadow?
And everytime they show him with more hair it shows how much he has lost
Looks like it was created using AI. Why no beard?
hatred of the subject matter shouldn’t denigrate the painter. omofemi is an accomplished portraitist and painter. just googling him shows his skill. i have no idea what he might be saying with this portrait (if he’s even saying anything), but it still shows considerable skill. i highly recommend looking up omofemi’s other works.
Skilled or not, Omofemi portrait is still NOT of William Mountbatten Windsor. Unless its William at 33years of age.
Thank you. I like this artist as well. He painted Queen Elizabeth a few years ago for the platinum jubilee and decided to paint her young like he did with William.
He took a good 6 inches off the width of Willy’s jaw. Maybe a surgeon can do that in real life lol
agree – this is not anywhere William’s yoooge Windsor jawline, the slimming and the extra hair are flattering.
But I think that the portraitist got closer to Jonathan Yeo’s masterpiece of King Charles in that…is this a Prince of Wales you want to spend more than 5 seconds in a room alone with? He looks scary. Those aren’t eyes that you trust, or open up to, or want as someone who has any say in your life whatsoever. The self-satisfied smirk is there. But overall what I get is: Cold. Hard. Awful.
So to that extent, I think the portrait is a good one and the artist did a good job
Peg is a deeply, viscerally unattractive man. Combined with his shallow intellect, ugly jealousy and petty rage, he has absolutely nothing going for him.
Inbreeding is a bish.
I don’t think he’s going to be happy about this. They’ve stolen his beard. And beards are his.
at least they left off the beard – it looks so awful on him since it isn’t a real beard
Where did they get the egg-shaped head from?
No beard? And no wispy hair on top of his head?
If you cover his eyes and upward, what remains looks like Telly Savalas.
He looks like Patrick Bateman in American Psycho. But with a British twist — even paler and more clammy.
The shadow is helping the jekyl and hyde feel of the piece.
Love the patterns in the tie
I don’t think he’s ever actually worn such an interesting tie.
Frederick always looks like a vampire on a blood fast.
So true and so creepy!!
This can be said of many in the Windsor clan, including Anne.
I always thought of his as the royals version of “Uncle Fester”
He looks like Colin Robinson’s half-brother.
Poor William and Kate. Harry and Meghan just won’t go away and leave the spot light to them. Please, please Harry and Meghan just never go out so everyone in the whole wide world will look to us as being the only royals that matter. Hide yourself and children cause we want our milk toast family to represent the Commonwealth and not your mixed race family. We don’t want you reminding people that they are mixed race royals in the family. Stay off Instagram we don’t want the world to see your beautiful and vivacious children Archie and Lilibet Diana. Meghan can you stop being 100% and tone it down to 30 so you can stop outshining our English rose who expects the whole world to revolve around her. Harry please stop traveling to foreign countries I’m the future King and no one should go to places I can’t. At least until I’m ready to get out of bed to do so. LMAO these people people are a joke.
It is truly a pathetic life when magazines and journalist have to prop you up because you have zero accomplishment other than what you will inherit.
Oh my God we’re all saying the same thing. He looks exactly like Steven Miller in this. Which is appropriate.
He looks like a wide-eyed psychotic combo of Stephen Miller and Vladimir Putin. Fair enough because he had to cozy up to evils to get access to Ru$$ian bot armies and embiggening press. What an ugly tool Diana’s handsome boy grew up to be. You really end up with the face you deserve.
The artist made him look like he’s smirking, which adds to the overall aura of “I’m better than you”
I actually like the artist Oluwole Omofemi. He didn’t have much to work with here.
This is the first time I’ve seen a photo of Lord Frederick Windsor. The Windsor genes are strong to the detriment to anyone who has them.
Is the artist the 3.rd guy in the thumbnails cause if that’s him… it’s a self portrait and not PEG
Willie does indeed look like Freddie who to my mind looks ghoulish, at least in any photo I’ve ever seen of him. It’s good that William is not portrayed with an open-mouthed smile, but the closed mouth is a self-satisfied smirk. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there is something very disquieting about this likeness, almost sinister. It doesn’t portray openness, strength, power, but instead something rather frightening and deceitful. I think this might be a better portrait than one would think at first glance.
The photo of reminds me of a smirking Donald Trump! It comes across as deceitful and pompous. Birds of a feather…
What’s all the uproar about? The portrait of willie is real and the pictures are fake! Be that as it may, either is f-ing scary. 😨😨😰😱
Ai willie! Willie currently sports a beard per the photos. Is the artist able to see what we mortals can’t? Was the artist briefed by “camilla tominey” pre portrait?
I’m a petty person, the real close up picture of him, UGH! I’m 69 and I have far fewer wrinkles than him. I’m very fair and growing up there was no such thing as sunscreen, we used baby oil. Spent many years using tanning beds. Long time smoker and drinker. He has not aged well, obviously not due the stress all of us go through, that does affect our skin and can add to our aging. He hasn’t had a moment of stress in his life. Guess he got the face he deserves. I’m feeling kind today so I won’t shade his hair, that’s hereditary.
Still looks like egg.
It is a good painting, and complimentary of the subject. So, not as realistic as it could have been, and definitely creative license has been taken. This portrait could have been painted maybe ten years ago or longer. It is reminiscent of when in William’s youth he had some looks and he knew it, and whatever he is doing to himself had not etched itself onto his face. He currently looks a lot older, he no longer has that self-satisfied and self-aware smirk on his face as he did when he was young and unmindful that nature can take away what it has given. The self-satisfied and self assured look out of his eyes is no longer there. Now, there is dissatisfaction, disillusionment, strain, age and unhappiness. The pout of the mouth is covering the ginormous chompers. William used to have a look of wellbeing that is no longer there. He needs to call the artist and thank him.
I see Freddie Windsor with his sister Gabriella’s lips & Kate’s former mole.
He’s ugly either way, bald or with a very receding hairline. They did him no favors.
The rosebud lips .. yikes.
But yes, my first thought was it looks like Freddie Windsor – a younger version though. Those Windsor genes are very unforgiving.
More hair and he still looks like Uncle Fester from The Addams Family!
Yes, he is a very creepy looking man, more in repose than on the go (his on the go is never work-related, either). So many resources going to such a waste of space. If her were a better man, he would realize what an embarrassment he is to his nation and change. But that will never be on his agenda.