Why Kate Middleton Has Nose Of Ian Botham In Her Official Painting?

Surprised rt critics last night slammed the first official portrait of the Duchess of Cambridge — claiming she looks 51 and has “Ian Botham’s nose”. The oil painting — by “hyper-realist” Paul Emsley — was unveiled at London’s National

Portrait Gallery yesterday and immediately branded “shockingly poor”.
It shows Kate, who only turned 31 on Wednesday, with greying hair, wrinkles and bags under her eyes — making her appear two decades older.

Leading critic David Lee said: “It’s hard to be polite about it. This is boring, dull and utterly predictable.”

Award-winning Mr Emsley, 65, completed the £30,000 portrait after private sittings with Kate and used photos to help him create her likeness. Robin Simon, editor of the British Art Journal, said: “It’s the gallery’s fault because it’s encouraged painting based on photos in recent years.

“But the trouble is, you still need some ability with oils.”

And likening the Duchess’s image to that of England cricket legend Beefy, 57, he added: “As we all know, photos distort and that’s why we now have a picture of Kate with Ian Botham’s nose.”

The finished painting was shown to Kate and husband Wills in a private viewing yesterday morning.

The Duchess, expecting her first child, later declared it is “just amazing” and insisted: “I thought it was brilliant.”

William, 30, added: “It’s beautiful, it’s absolutely beautiful.”
And Mr Emsley, who lives in Bradford-on-Avon, Wilts, hit back at his critics last night, saying: “I’d like to see you do better.

“I would say first of all ‘Can they draw?’
“If they can draw then I might take them seriously, otherwise I wouldn’t.”

He added: “I spoke to the Duchess this morning. “She said she was very happy with the portrait and so did her husband, and for me that’s all that matters.”