The Gallery had a ballot among staff to see who would be in the receiving line and give the Duchess a posy of flowers. The winner was 3-year-old Wilhelmina Dreghorn – well actually her auntie Jess Wilkinson who works at the gallery and nominated her very cute niece.
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Wilhelmina Dreghorn presents the Duchess with flowers.
Inside, Catherine – who is the patron of the London’s National Portrait Gallery, and the Duke of Cambridge gazed upon the likenesses of distinguished Australians.
Kate, who was radiant in an emerald green Catherine Walker dress with long-sleeves and belted at the waist, and Prince William were impressed by the resemblance of Australia’s own connection with royalty, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark.
Kate told artist Jiawei Shen, who painted the portrait of the Crown Princess of Denmark nine years ago, that it was “very real” adding she had met Princess Mary.
The gallery’s director, Angus Trumble, steered the couple to Australian war heroine Nancy Wake, delighting them with stories of her courage and adventures. They also met indigenous musician Gurrumul Yunupingu who only moments before had entertained them at a Prime Ministerial reception at nearby Parliament House.
Former Australian of the Year, Dr John Yu, drew smiles when he described the arduous process of sitting for his sculpture. Kate asked: “Was it really uncomfortable?”
Dr Yu said he told the couple how he had been “in a plaster cast and how you breathe through straws up your nose”.
Kate and William took time to take in the tapestry of the late Dame Elisabeth Murdoch as her granddaughters Prudence MacLeod and Penny Fowler looked on.
William had met Dame Elisabeth in Victoria during his last visit. “They were very lovely, natural and really engaged. I think they loved seeing the portrait of Granny,” Mrs Fowler said.
“The Duchess of Cambridge was saying how it was lovely to see different mediums and the tapestry is really unique.”
Mr Trumble said the visit to the gallery had been a “red letter day”. “In a way a royal visit of this scale with this degree of publicity attached to it is in a sense a mark of our coming of age,” he said.
Margie Abbott, the wife of the Prime Minister, who is the chief patron of the gallery, and Arts Minister Senator George Brandis were also on hand as the young royals toured the institution.
