A portrait of Prince William and Prince Harry has been removed from the royal gallery amid growing tensions between the brothers.
Nicky Phillipps’ portrait of the royal brothers was taken out of the National Portrait Gallery just as Princess Kate reopened the 167-year-old institution earlier today following a three-year refurbishment.
The painting was first unveiled in 2010 and showed the Prince of Wales and Duke of Sussex looking at one another while wearing military uniform.
The portrait was painted ahead of the brothers’ fallout which reached a fever-pitch in the aftermath of Megxit.
An official portrait of Prince William and Prince Harry will no longer be on display at the National Portrait Gallery PAKensington Palace and the National Portrait Gallery have stressed the decision to remove the portrait was not made at the request of the Waleses.
A gallery spokeswoman previously 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.
“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.”
However, the announcement comes at a time when Prince William and Prince Harry are not on speaking terms.
The Duke of Sussex took aim at his brother and sister-in-law with a number of allegations in his memoir Spare, including that the Prince of Wales physically attacked him in 2019.
The National Portrait Gallery will reopen to the public on Thursday following its £35 million refurbishment.
The art gallery closed its doors in March 2020 and remained shut as the coronavirus pandemic swept the United Kingdom.
The Princess of Wales with Sir Paul McCartney and his wife Nancy Shevell during a visit to re-open the National Portrait Gallery in London
PA
The Princess of Wales, who is patron of the National Portrait Gallery, continues with her campaign to support early childhood development.
The mother-of-three supported the gallery’s programme for children aged under five by taking part in a workshop with nursery pupils.
Princess Kate was also spotted chatting with Beatles hero Sir Paul McCartney.
She met with the joint-lead singer of the sixties rock band and his wife Nancy to mark the reopening of the National Portrait Gallery.
The 41-year-old wore a £450 Self Portrait midi dress with a pleated skirt and a white boucle tweed jacket.
Kate also donned a pair of simple pearl teardrop earrings and £620 black Aquazza shoes.
