Prince Charles shares never-before-seen portraits of William and Harry
In honour of his 70th birthday, Prince Charles is releasing private family portraits for a celebratory palace exhibition.
Included in the collection are two preparatory oil paintings of Prince William and Prince Harry, that have never been seen by the public before.
The portraits were created by Nicky Phillipps when she painted the royal brothers for their first official portrait together in 2009.
The oil paintings will be taken from the walls of Highgrove, the residence of Prince Charles and Camilla, and will be displayed in the summertime Buckingham palace exhibit called Prince & Patron.
Charles has also chosen to display an oil sketch of his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.
The remarkable portrait was done by Michael Noakes and was completed to mark the silver wedding anniversary of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip in 1972.
In a recorded message to visitors of the exhibition, Charles says he “acquired it from the artist as I felt it brilliantly captured her likeness and, above all, reminds me of the essence of her personality. I admire it often when in residence at Clarence House.”
Charles will also showcase a special pencil sketch of his father by Bryan Organ that was done for his 1983 portrait of Prince Philip. The final painting currently hangs in the National Portrait Gallery.
The special exhibition will comprise of over 100 works of art selected by Prince Charles from his own collection, the Royal Collection and created by artists supported by three of his charities – the Royal Drawing School, The Prince’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts and Turquoise Mountain.
Scroll through the gallery above to see the never-before-seen portraits.