Alastair Barford Creates First Commissioned Portrait of King Charles III
29th March 2023
Illustrated London News is proud to reveal its specially commissioned portrait of His Majesty King Charles III that will feature on the front cover of The Illustrated Coronation Edition. The oil painting, by QEST Scholar and artist Alastair Barford, is the first portrait to be released since the change of reign and among the first to be commissioned.
The artist had just two weeks to complete the project, and while His Majesty did not sit for the portrait, Alastair was able to study him at work at a Buckingham Palace reception on 17 February held in support of global biodiversity, working from his photographs and sketches of the occasion.
The portrait of His Majesty King Charles III is featured in The Illustrated Coronation Edition, published by Illustrated London News and in retailers and newsstands on 30 March. For every copy of the publication sold, 50p will generously be donated to QEST.
The likeness of The King and his sympathetic expression are striking. Alastair Barford commented: “I wished to capture his warmth and sensitivity, the empathy which came across in his interactions with the people he met. It was important that I captured a sympathetic expression.”
A detail of the portrait includes a bracelet on His Majesty’s wrist, presented to The King by the Amazon indigenous leader, Domingo Peas, at the Palace reception on 17 February. The artist included the bracelet to give the portrait context and authenticity, a symbol of The King’s advocacy on climate change and sustainability.
The portrait of The King was not Barford’s first royal portrait. He was commissioned as an up and coming artist by Illustrated London News in 2015 to paint Her Majesty The Queen in oils to mark her becoming the longest reigning British Monarch. It was Barford’s first formal commission and he studied The Queen at The Order of Garter Ceremony at Windsor Castle.
Alastair Barford said of the commission of HM King Charles: “It was a terrifying honour! It’s a great responsibility to create a portrait of someone who means so much to so many people. If you are painting someone you know, you bring to the portrait certain preconceptions. While I don’t know The King, he has been an enduring presence in all our lives. So reconciling this ‘Idea of The King” with the reference material I had gathered was a challenge.”
“The limited time frame, just two weeks, was a huge challenge. Working on a single portrait all day every day is intense and I felt guilty when I wasn’t working on the painting, but I realised that the time we spend away from our paintings is also a valuable part of the process. The tight time frame also presented technical challenges. To work on an oil painting every day is like picking at a wound. The painting needs time to dry, just as the wound needs time to heal.”
