A PORTRAIT of a Reading-born royal is to go on display in Berkshire from next week.
The photograph shows HRH Duchess of Cambridge seated and gazing to the left, and is one of three taken by Paolo Roversi to celebrate her 40th birthday last year.
It will go on show at St James the Less Church in Pangbourne from Tuesday, March 22 until Tuesday, April 5.
Reading Museum will then display the portrait between Thursday, April 7, and Saturday, June 4.
The duchess chose the locations because she has connections to both. The Middleton family are parishioners of St James’s, and the museum is close to the Royal Berkshire Hospital where she was born.
Paolo Roversi’s other portraits will be displayed at the University of St Andrews, where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge met while studying, and Anglesey’s Oriel Môn, where they lived in the early years of marriage. The series was inspired by 19th century photography, which was the subject the duchess’s undergraduate thesis at university.
The images were acquired by the National Portrait Gallery and are touring the UK as part of its Coming Home project. The NPG is currently closed for redevelopment, and is lending portraits of well-known individuals to places with which they are closely associated.
St James’s will be 10am to 4pm daily. Entry will be restricted between 10am and 11.30am on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays as services will be taking place. The church will open between 7pm and 9pm on Thursday, March 24, and Thursday, March 31. Entry to both locations is free.
