Duchess of Cambridge 40th birthday photographs

[eternalopt]

Pictures released of the Duchess for her 40th - she looks amazing! Love her hair like that www.independent.co.uk/life-style/royal-family/kate-middleton-duchess-cambridge-photos-birthday-b1989379.html?amp

Yes love the very natural look, she looks amazing!

The second (face on) has definitely had some
Photoshop on her teeth. She has lovely teeth but they’re not that uniform.

I honestly wouldn’t have known it was her if you just showed me the first face on pic in the white dress.

She looks stunning. I don't often comment on these types of threads.

They are nice but don’t do her justice. I would have expected something much better to celebrate a milestone birthday.

I think the difference is that these were taken by a fashion photographer, who I assume is more used to taking photos of models rather than portraits to capture the real person - or paparazzi pics.

I agree.

And even if this is the ‘real Catherine’, it’s odd to present something that is do visually different to the version of the Duchess of Cambridge you see presenting the Wimbledon trophy/ attending premiers/ doing activities with the Scouts/ on Holkham beach as a Royal Portrait.

Obviously she is perfectly entitled to change her hair and makeup, but I think it’s the angles and lighting that make her look unlike herself.

‘So visually’.

I don't like the style of the photos much but Kate looks lovely

I would only have recognised her in the profile pic.

She is over photoshopped, but I think they’ve also softened her eye makeup which good - it does age her usually, and I also prefer the less done hair. The white dress is very like a princess Margaret photo.

@Dochas1211

I think the first one looks nothing like her. The other two are nice but I much prefer the photos of her in the gold dress.

I thought that as well.

The differences are rather surprising, but she does look so genuinely happy it’s infectious and that’s nice.

I wonder if she (or any members of the royal family) ever read the guff written about them - like the photographer’s remarks in the article - and think “oh for crying out loud…”

This popped up on a feed...

Ooops

Sorry about that!

Weird... first post didn't show pic at all

such a shame.
she is so photogenic, she does not need air brushing/photoshopping.
she is not a young girl, she is a 40 year old, with 3 children.

@TheWomandestroyed
Perhaps the earlier thread got deleted because a few comments mentioned Kates resemblance to a certain other person?

Just guessing though!

@User48751490 Exactly the same here. I'm an instinctive republican & have never commented on a Royal thread but I think these are fantastic photos. She looks lovely, & I have to admit I'm rather baffled by those saying they wouldn't have recognised her, they seem definitively her to me, just a different take.

Absolutely agree with those who say these are the photos that will be looked back on when she's Queen in her eighties. Very redolent of previous royal milestone images dating back to the 1920s.

i have been thinking about this and think for me the problem is...
these days young people are shown unachievable images on sm, we tell them that. we tell them. no one really looks like that,
then we have a "important" person then release these unachievable photos.
I do not know any one in rl who looks like that at 40 with 3 kids.
missed opportunity imo. a real un airbrushed photo of Kate. so much better and she is so attractive,

I started another thread on this by mistake, but a kind poster has re-directed me to this one! I think the photos are really lovely and sort of timeless! Imagine people looking back on these in a couple of hundred years' time.

My point was that is a very sobering thought to think that Kate is now 4 years older than Diana was when she died.

She would have decided which photos to release, and has chosen these. I think they’re probably very close to how she sees herself, which will be very different from the all pap photos people are used to seeing, and so much more personal - despite the grand styling. I like them.

@Samcro

i have been thinking about this and think for me the problem is... these days young people are shown unachievable images on sm, we tell them that. we tell them. no one really looks like that, then we have a "important" person then release these unachievable photos. I do not know any one in rl who looks like that at 40 with 3 kids. missed opportunity imo. a real un airbrushed photo of Kate. so much better and she is so attractive,

There are millions of real snaps of her. Every photo you see of her out and about is un airbrushed, except those in Vogue and the other official photos. She doesn't have an Instagram where she pushes an airbrushed version of herself.

She's used a special occasion for official portrait photographs. Why insist on only the unvarnished version?

The photos were taken in Kew Gardens so the photographer has said. For the natural light.
250 were taken and narrowed down to 70... and so on.

@Roussette

This popped up on a feed...

It kind of reminds me when historians tell us that the old portraits of royals like Elizabeth I, Henry VIII and his wives etc. are not really what they looked like. This is touted as a portrait that will last in history, so am a bit surprised that someone would put up a picture that looks nothing like her, in this day and age.

PS : I also will not hold my breath on MNers and RR articles that declare she 'broke protocol' with a one shoulder dress and putting hands in her pockets. How she is trying to be a 'Hollywood celebrity' and 'attention seeking', 'making it all about herself' etc.

rubics I was going to mention the one shoulder and pockets which was the crime of the century a while back!

@Samcro

i have been thinking about this and think for me the problem is... these days young people are shown unachievable images on sm, we tell them that. we tell them. no one really looks like that, then we have a "important" person then release these unachievable photos. I do not know any one in rl who looks like that at 40 with 3 kids. missed opportunity imo. a real un airbrushed photo of Kate. so much better and she is so attractive,

There are plenty of photos out there in the public domain of KM that are natural and taken in natural surroundings, engagements, days out etc for young people to see. She maybe wanted something a bit different from the norm, this is a formal set of pictures for a special occasion and probably no different to people having a Bride and Groom photo posed/enhanced/retouched to show you looking more radiant than you normally would for a normal day in the office (and most people won't have their photo hanging in the portrait gallery for all to see).