'Royal' Painting Unveiled at Beverly Hills Gallery

A one-of-a-kind painting depicting an angelic Princess Diana looking down on Prince William and his bride Kate was unveiled Wednesday at the David W. Streets Gallery in honor of the royal couple’s visit this week to Los Angeles, which includes a stop in Beverly Hills.

Artist Steven Vaughan believes that William feels his mother’s presence every day and wanted to represent that. In the painting, Diana is shown above the couple, looking on with warmth and approval from her place among the angels, he said.

“This painting is hyper-realism and conceptual art coming together,” Vaughan said. “It is both real and magical at the same time.”

The painting is titled “Ordinary People, William and Kate.”

“I’m happy to do this unveiling here in Beverly Hills to welcome the royal couple,” Streets said. “I worked with Princess Diana on several charity events in the 1980s, and it is so wonderful to see Prince William develop her same style and personality and to take on so many of her causes.”

Several Brits who have relocated to the U.S. attended the gallery event, including actress Alice Amter of The Big Bang Theory and Dame Nadya and Sir Golden Koscuik of Masterpiece Dance Theatre, which is one of the three charities that will benefit from the sale of the painting.

“Diana was a big supporter of children and also the arts, and we do a lot of scholarships for underprivileged kids,” Nadya Koscuik said. “I had the honor of meeting Princess Diana many, many years ago when I was a principal with the Royal Opera Ballet and she was a wonderful human being.”

A percentage of the proceeds from the sale of the painting, a limited number of giclee prints on canvas and an unlimited number of smaller prints on paper will also benefit Generation Rescue, actress Jenny McCarthy’s autism organization. Vaughan’s daughter is autistic and he credits McCarthy’s program for his child’s improvement. The third charity to benefit will be a children's one that William and Kate will choose.

“It is, hopefully, a beautiful piece of art,” Vaughan said. “But it was also created to help out some really beautiful causes.”

Vaughan plans to send the first hand-signed canvas print to the royal couple. William and Kate are scheduled to arrive Friday at LAX and their first stop will be the Venture Capital & New Media Summit at the .

Nadya Koscuik had some advice for commoners who happen to run into the royal couple while they are in town.

“I would say you should definitely curtsy or do a kind of bow,” she said. “Then tell them what an honor it is to meet the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.”

Of course, you shouldn’t do anything at all unless one of the royals gestures to you first.

“Don’t speak unless you’re spoken to,” Nadya Koscuik said.

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