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Just because Kate Middleton is royal doesn’t mean her emails are formal. Kensington Palace shared a screenshot of a personal email the Duchess of Cambridge sent on Thursday to the judges of the “Hold Still” photography project. “Dear Judges, I am thrilled we have chosen the final 100 portraits. I thought you might like to see the images all together so please find them attached,” Kate’s message read. “I couldn’t have done it without you so thank you so much for your help!” The Duchess simply signed off the email with “C” for Catherine.
Kate, who is patron of the National Portrait Gallery, launched the community photography project “Hold Still” in May amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Duchess, in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery, invited people around the UK to submit portraits taken during these extraordinary times, focusing on one of three themes: Helpers and Heroes, Your New Normal, or Acts of Kindness.
“Hold Still” aims to capture a snapshot of the people of the UK at this time, creating a collective portrait of the nation, which will “reflect resilience and bravery, humour and sadness, creativity and kindness, human tragedy and hope as we hold still for the good of others, and celebrate those who have continued so we can stay safe.” One hundred shortlisted portraits will be featured in a digital exhibition on the National Portrait Gallery’s website in September. Kate’s email included a zip file attachment of the final 100 picks.
“We’ve all seen some incredible images out there and heard some amazing stories and some desperately sad stories, but also some really uplifting ones as well,” the Duchess, a self-proclaimed “amateur photographer,” previously said of the project on ITV’s This Morning. “I really hope through a project like this, we might be able to showcase some of those stories and to document and share a moment in time, I suppose, that we’re all experiencing.”