Royal Pet Portrait

The most gift-ready style

Royal portraits work because the contrast between the regalia and an ordinary pet's expression does the comedy for you. A dog caught mid-yawn in ceremonial dress is funnier than any caption you could put under it.

A royal dog portrait, or a royal cat portrait

The composition is a head-and-shoulders portrait, so what you see is the robe collar, the ermine trim and the medals framing the face rather than a full-length figure. A royal dog portrait leans on the collar: the ermine sits right where a dog's ruff would be, so robe and coat read as one shape. A royal cat portrait tends to land differently — a cat's expression is already unimpressed, and the ceremonial dress simply gives it something to be unimpressed about. Either way, the more formal the dress, the funnier an undignified expression becomes.

Choosing a photo

• A photo with a bit of personality in the expression beats a perfectly posed one.
• Front-facing photos suit the formal, symmetrical composition of the style.
• Photos that are very dark, heavily blurred, or where your pet is small in the frame give the weakest results.

Frequently asked

How is this different from the Renaissance style?

Renaissance is a 16th-century merchant-class portrait: velvet doublet, lace ruff, dark background, restrained. Royal is 18th-century court: ermine, medals, gold, draped curtains. Royal is louder.

Can I choose the color of the robe?

Not currently. The royal style uses a fixed crimson-and-gold palette, which is what gives it its consistency.