Pity the poor British royals. In an era when humans featured on canvas are prone to being portrayed as twisted, ugly shadows of themselves, royalty is still expected to go out and find an artist of considerable reputation to paint their portraits. It was Prince Philip’s turn this year, and he chose portrait specialist Stuart Pearson Wright to commit his royal image to canvas. Royal spokespersons insist that Prince Philip had seen Pearson Wright’s work before selecting him, but the prince was apparently horrified at the artist’s first effort. No one is yet showing off that rough draft, but Pearson Wright’s signature is to stretch his subjects vertically to distort their features.