Critics slam likeness of Wills, Kate on new commemorative coin

NEW YORK - The images of Prince William and his bride-to-be, Kate Middleton, on a new coin look nothing like the couple, say critics.

The coin commemorating the royal couple’s engagement is being slammed by critics, who say the likeness of the future princess looks chubby and haggard.

The design on the 5 pounds coin, released by the Royal Mint, is based on a photo taken of the royal couple at a polo mach a few years ago. Middleton is shown swooning over the young prince, who is presented in profile to allude to “his royal status,” said Dave Knight, director of commemorative coins at The Royal Mint.

But many who have seen the coin are calling the design a royal mess.

“This coin is of historical importance, to get it so wrong seems ridiculous,” the New York Daily News quoted Ingrid Seward, editor in chief at Majesty Magazine, as telling Sky News.

Others said that Middleton appears plump in the face and lips and has bags under her eyes.

A review of the coin in Britain’s Daily Mirror said the normally elegant Middleton looked “far chunkier and older” and that William was sporting “an Elvis Presley quiff.”

Readers of The Washington Post, who responded to a poll on the paper’s website, decided that the figures on the coin most resembled singer Janis Joplin and Butthead, the cartoon metal head from MTV’s “Beavis and Butthead.”

The Royal Mint, which produced the collectors’ item, said it had no intention of changing the design, but acknowledged that it was difficult to engrave the features of young people onto such a small surface. (ANI)