The Queen says she was 'inspired' by results of Kate Middleton's photographic lockdown exhibition

The Queen has said she was “inspired” by the results of the Duchess of Cambridge’s lockdown photo exhibition.

The Hold Still exhibition was created in partnership with The National Portrait Gallery and saw Kate Middleton and a panel of judges choose from 31,000 entries to select 100 photos that captured the spirit of the UK lockdown.

The digital exhibition went live on The National Portrait Gallery’s website on Monday.

Now, the Queen has revealed that she was thrilled with the final 100 images that were chosen.

“It was with great pleasure that I had the opportunity to look through a number of the portraits that made the final 100 images for the Hold Still photography project,” she said.

"The Duchess of Cambridge and I were inspired to see how the photographs have captured the resilience of the British people at such a challenging time, whether that is through celebrating frontline workers, recognising community spirit or showing the efforts of individuals supporting those in need.

"The Duchess of Cambridge and I send our best wishes and congratulations to all those who submitted a portrait to the project."

Hold Still revolves around three themes: helpers and heroes, your new normal and acts of kindness.

The final 100 tackle these subjects and more, including how families were impacted by the lockdown, the daily lives of frontline workers, and the Black Lives Matter movement.

Alongside Kate, judges on the panel included the director of the National Portrait Gallery Nicholas Cullinan, photographer Maryam Wahid, and England's chief nursing officer Ruth May.

The Duchess shared a selection of the winning images in August.

One of the final images chosen includes Robert Coyle's photo entitled “We're really lucky to have a garden”.

“The weekend is here, lockdown continues and Bernadette and Francis enjoy the garden,” Coyle wrote alongside his submission.

"One Friday, as I finished emailing at the kitchen table, my wife had taken a chair and a drink outside to enjoy the evening sun. We were doing our best, like the rest of the country, with work, childcare and news of daily death tolls.

“Our son had taken to relieving himself on the plants, much to our initial amusement and then slight frustration.”

You can see all of the photos in the Hold Still exhibition here.

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