Princess Kate portrait courts criticism amid health update: 'Just bad'

A portrait of Princess Kate is courting controversy amid her cancer battle — again.

Two months after her Mother's Day photo editing incident, a new portrait commissioned from British-Zambian artist Hannah Uzor by the British fashion magazine Tatler is causing backlash for its depiction of the princess.

The portrait is inspired by a real-life photo of Princess Kate in a floor-length white gown donning a pin of the late Queen Elizabeth II at King Charles III's first state banquet as reigning monarch in November 2022. At the banquet, Princess Kate also wore Queen Mary’s Lover's Knot Tiara, a favorite of husband Prince William's late mother Princess Diana.

USA TODAY has reached out to Tatler magazine and Hannah Uzor for comment.

'What a horrible portrait': Social media users react to Princess Kate portrait

But some don't think the Uzor portrait of Princess Kate depicts her well at all.

Social media users took to the comment section on Tatler's Instagram to express their displeasure with the portrait.

"Looks like an amateur painting done in primary school. Just bad. Awful," one person commenter posted.

"Who is making decisions on these commissions? The portraits are getting weirder and weirder. This is quite amateurish, does not resemble HRH. Considering what she’s going through, I guess this will give her a good chuckle," another person said.

"What a horrible portrait for a beautiful woman," one user stated.

On X, the reactions mirrored the frustrations of those in the Instagram comments.

Princess Kate photo removed by photoagencies citing 'manipulation,' fueling conspiracy

"Doesn’t look like Catherine at all. If she wasn’t wearing that dress I’d have no clue as to who it’s meant to be," one commenter said.

"This looks nothing like the Princess of Wales. It's so awful, it's disrespectful. Why did you choose an anti-monarchist to paint the Princess of Wales," another said.

Princess Kate 'is not expected to return to work' for time being

The monarch made news in March after a photo released for British Mother's Day was found to be "digitally manipulated," according to major photo agencies including The Associated Press, AFP and Reuters.

Eleven days later, Kensington Palace announced Princess Kate has been diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing "a course of preventive chemotherapy treatment." She also underwent abdominal surgery.

Now, as questions arise about a possible return to work for the royal, Kensington Palace told The Evening Standard and BBC on Tuesday that the princess would not be returning to work yet.

Contributing: Taijuan Moorman, Brendan Morrow