Princess Kate has shown a keen interest in the arts which links back to her University degree and current role as Patron to many museums and galleries which include the Natural History Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum and the National Portrait Gallery.
First pursuing her passion as a student, The Princess of Wales enrolled at St Andrews University in 2001 to study History of Art and graduated with a 2:1 in 2005. While Prince William was originally on the same course as Kate, he later changed to study geography.
Kate’s passion for art is something that she reportedly misses indulging in, since marrying into the Royal Family on April 29, 2011.
According to the author Tina Brown’s book, ‘The Palace Paper: Inside The House of Windsor – The Truth and the Turmoil’ Kate often makes secret visits to galleries and museums to “nourish her inner life”.
She was once spotted in the artist Hockney’s exhibition at the Royal Academy at 8am, and took a seat in front of one of the beautiful pieces of art. She told the man next to her: “I miss my history of art. It’s what I do to get my fix.”
Kate also displayed her artistic skills during her sister Pippa’s wedding James Matthews in 2017. For the wedding she drew St Mark’s Church for the front cover of the order of service, which was where the wedding was held.
Prince William once mocked his lack of artistic skills by admitting that Kate, George, Charlotte and Louis are more creative than him.
During his visit to a youth facility in West London, he revealed that his wife is the “arty one” and also spoke about one of Prince Louis’s favourite sweet treats. While decorating biscuits with children in a training kitchen, William joked about his lack of imagination and said: “My wife is the arty one. Even my children are artier than me.”
Kate’s father-in-law, King Charles, also has enviable artistic skills and the monarch has been pictured countless times over the years with brush in hand.
At the start of 2022, King Charles saw his watercolours exhibited at The Garrison Chapel in Chelsea. He said: “You become increasingly aware of things that may have escaped your attention previously – the quality of light and shade, of tone and texture and of the shape of buildings.
“It all requires the most intense concentration and consequently is one of the most relaxing and therapeutic exercises I know. In fact, in my case, I find it transports me into another dimension which, quite literally, refreshes parts of the soul which other activities can’t reach. I took up painting entirely because I found photography less than satisfying.”