A German museum has sparked a fresh wave of debate with the unveiling of a new wax figure depicting a senior British royal. The Panoptikum museum in Hamburg has added a statue of Catherine, Princess of Wales, to its collection of celebrities, but the replica's likeness has left some observers unconvinced.
A Royal Addition with a Questionable Likeness
The museum, which already houses figures like Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift, revealed its latest creation this week. Artist Lisa Buscher and her team began work on the Princess Kate figure in August, meticulously crafting the model based on hundreds of public photographs. The statue wears a replica of a dark green sequined Jenny Packham gown and features the Princess's signature understated makeup and eyeliner.
Despite the intensive research, the final result has not met with universal approval, with some critics suggesting it is not an exact likeness. This is not the first time the Panoptikum has courted controversy with its royal waxworks. In 2022, it displayed a figure of the late Queen Elizabeth II with only half a wig, revealing a bald scalp beneath her hat—a design choice the museum defended at the time.
The Meticulous, Yet Challenging, Creation Process
Speaking about the creative process, Buscher explained the team focused on a specific public appearance to model both the outfit and the makeup. "We not only modeled the outfit but also the character's makeup on a public appearance, while keeping it royally understated," she said. "Of course, Kate's signature eyeliner couldn't be missing."
The artist revealed that the most difficult aspect was perfecting the royal smile. Buscher claims the team spent 30 hours alone on getting the teeth right, a task complicated by the varying angles of source photographs. "Because every photo was taken from a different angle, the smile is always just a tiny bit different," she explained. Each tooth and eye was individually crafted from resin.
The finished figure stands at 1.75 metres tall but weighs a mere 15kg, considerably less than the real Princess. It now takes its place next to the museum's figure of Queen Elizabeth II, among over 120 other global personalities.
Museum Defends Its Approach to Royal Depictions
Dr Susanne Faerber, the museum's managing partner, emphasised the importance of adding such a recognisable figure. "Princess Catherine is incredibly well-known. Five-year-olds know her just as well as 95-year-olds," she stated. "It is very important to us that as many visitors as possible recognise the people depicted in our museum."
This philosophy previously guided the approach to the Queen Elizabeth II statue. When questioned in 2022 about whether showing the monarch's bald head was disrespectful, Dr. Faerber responded, "It is a waxwork, not the real person, this should always be kept in mind." She noted they only install the amount of hair visible to visitors, justifying the unusual presentation.
The debut of the Princess of Wales figure demonstrates the Panoptikum's continued commitment to featuring contemporary royals, regardless of the inevitable scrutiny over the accuracy of their waxen counterparts. The discussion it has ignited online proves that, for better or worse, the new statue is certainly being recognised.
