New Royal Portrait Of The Firm Members Draws Mixed Reactions On Twitter

It was perhaps an odd time to take a photo of the most senior members of the royal family. On the eve of the Queen's funeral, the new monarch, King Charles III, queen consort Camilla and the Prince and Princess of Wales, Prince William and Kate Middleton, posed for a new portrait. The image, featuring all four royals, was shared via the official Twitter account of the King and Camilla, where it promptly stirred up a bit of a tizzy among fans.

One major sentiment among social media users was that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's absence in the official portrait was glaring, with one person tweeting, "Snubbing his other child and daughter in law again I see... what a great parent that is."

But it was the timing of the photo opp that really had folks scratching their heads. The Firm's likeness was snapped on the night before Queen Elizabeth II's state funeral on September 18. And the smiles on the faces of her closest family members felt a bit macabre as a result.

To put it mildly, Twitter was put off by the timing of the new royal portrait featuring King Charles, queen consort Camilla and the Prince and Princess of Wales, dressed in all black on the night before they buried the matriarch of their family.

"Slightly strange to be so 'happy' the evening before HM the Queen's funeral," one person tweeted. Echoing that opinion, someone else wondered why they wouldn't wait until after the official mourning period was over to take the first portrait of the royal family without the Queen on the throne. "Stange," another royal fan commented in part upon seeing the photo.

To be fair, many fans expressed admiration for the senior royals in the comments section of the family's Twitter account. And as one person joked, the King waited forever to ascend to the throne, so it's fair to assume that he couldn't wait another moment to release this photograph. 

Indeed, he is the longest-waiting King in British history by nearly a decade (via Forbes).