 Reception of the painting as a work of art has been predominantly negative. The historian David Starkey described it as an "appallingly bad picture", a sentiment which the art dealer Christopher Foley echoed. Tarnya Cooper of the National Portrait Gallery gave less sharp criticism, stating "it's a paint-by-number, labored copy", and "its value is as a historical document rather than a work of art". Zarin describes the painting as looking bleached in comparison with other portraits of monarchs, with "the flat face of a paper doll". Edwards writes "the quality might be described as naive, primitive, or even folk art".
