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As you might have heard, Kate Middleton and Prince William posed with son and future king Prince George (She was wearing a maternity dress by Seraphine, he was wearing a blanket.) Before the onslaught of photos hit twitter at 7:01 EST last night, Daily Mail's royals correspondent tweeted, "They're the most off-beat official royal portraits I've ever seen, definitely worth a look."
Prince George isn't the focus of attention, probably because he's a baby that looks like a baby. But the quality of the photos has caught some flack. Taken by Grandpa Middleton, the pictures are intended to offer the hungry public something to look at without sacrificing family closeness in their special time. Still, the British press has been like, "harumph, think of history!" And KMids is all, "Family is more important," maybe. And then they all don their tiny hats and chase each other with battalions before making an understated truce over darjeeling. Below, find the best prickly quotes from the picture's coverage in British media.
The Guardian, getting to the heart of the issue in the headline: "Prince George photograph: why it's a right royal mess."
The Telegraph buried their critique at the bottom of the post. "Expert" Eddie Mulholland, vice chairman of the British Press Photographers Association and a news photographer for the Telegraph for 20 years, had a few things to say.
Best digs include, "I would be pleased with them if they were for me and my family, but they look like they have been taken with a mobile phone or a consumer compact camera. It would have been better to have seen it done properly given that this is the official record of the future king." Also, "The photograph with the dogs is the worst. One of the dogs in the corner looks like a furry rug, and part of the Duke's head is wiped out by a patch of light coming through the trees."
Daily Mail on the ordinary-ness of it all: "According to well-placed sources, the couple felt that inviting a professional photographer into their family group would 'burst' their post-baby bubble. And so we have pictures like those on the mantelpieces of millions of ordinary families—slightly fuzzy, but full of joy."
And then there's colorful personal tidbits: "While courtiers insist that professional pictures of the family will be taken at some point, the man chosen to capture a very historic moment was one Michael Middleton, a former flight despatcher whose party trick is dressing up in an inflatable Sumo outfit at Christmas."
Poor Lupo: "Technically the two photographs are quite poor. The highlights are blown out and faces underlit. They have been taken in the shade of a tree on a very sunny day and the light from the grass leaves an unflattering cast on the skin. Even the horizon in the picture with their pet Lupo is not straight. But what Mr Middleton has lost in quality he has made up for in the feeling of naturalness he has captured on the faces of William and Kate."
And the best one of all, via Express: "Family cameraman Michael Middleton has done an adequate job capturing the relaxed pose of a young couple with their newborn."
· Kate Middleton's Baby Is Coming! And We're Liveblogging It! [Racked]
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