Coronation portraits have for centuries been a traditional part of the crowning of a monarch. Queen Elizabeth II’s, by Herbert James Gunn, showed her in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace, the crown and scepter on a table beside her — symbols of rule that traditionally appear in coronation portraits.

King Charles and Queen Camilla's new state portraits were unveiled this week – and an art historian has claimed there's a "sad hidden meaning" within the works

The official coronation portrait of King Charles has been made public two years after he was crowned, in a tradition dating back more than 400 years to a time when such a painting often became the defining image of a monarch.