Whilst a lot of us will have one or two hobbies we really enjoy, the Princess of Wales’s list of favourite activities is pretty extensive. From playing the piano to playing tennis and even – rather her than me – cold water swimming, Kate is accomplished at so many things.
The future Queen shares many of her passions with her nearest and dearest, especially when it comes to sports. However, one of Kate’s favourite hobbies hasn’t got her father-in-law’s seal of approval. Instead, King Charles finds it “impossible” and “less than satisfying” when he tries it.
It was previously revealed by the King’s Foundation that His Majesty took up painting after deciding that photography wasn’t that fulfilling for him. King Charles explained this in a display panel for an exhibition of some of his watercolour paintings in 2022.
(Image credit: Photo by Danny Martindale/WireImage via Getty)
“I took up painting entirely because I found photography less than satisfying,” he declared. “Quite simply, I experienced an overwhelming urge to express what I saw through the medium of watercolour and to convey that almost ‘inner’ sense of texture which is impossible to achieve via photography.”
So it seems that King Charles isn’t fond of being behind the camera and this couldn’t be more of a contrast to his daughter-in-law. The Princess of Wales is a passionate amateur photographer and she’s taken plenty of iconic pictures of the Royal Family over the years.
It was Kate who took Queen Camilla’s cover photograph for her guest-edited issue of Country Life in 2022, having been personally requested by Her Majesty. As per the Daily Mail, in an ITV documentary, Camilla’s Country Life, the Queen described the Princess of Wales as not only a very skilled photographer, but one with a flair for taking very natural snaps.
“They are very good pictures. She does it very naturally. We had a lot of fun doing it,” she reportedly disclosed. “It was very relaxed and very kind that the [Princess of Wales] came with her camera – she is an extremely good photographer. It was all very casual.”
She clearly put Queen Camilla at ease and Kate’s final cover image was awarded the coveted Cover of the Year Award by the Professional Publishers’ Association.
Having your photography skills recognised by the industry is a huge honour and whilst King Charles finds this medium “less than satisfying”, his daughter-in-law clearly gets a lot of joy from it. As a senior royal and mum-of-three, Kate’s diary is pretty packed yet she still finds time to capture precious family moments and memories.
She took Princess Charlotte’s tenth birthday photo released this year and although she doesn’t get behind the camera for these pictures quite as regularly as she used to, she’s showing that it’s still a valued hobby of hers.
The Princess of Wales and King Charles might not share a love of photography, but they can likely bond over art. Kate is a talented artist herself and studied Art History at university.
In 2021 the Waleses shared one of her atmospheric sketches of St Andrews in a post thanking the people, communities and organisations they visited in Scotland. It was dated 2002 and so was drawn by the Princess of Wales three years before she graduated.
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