Lady Hale’s smile to break stoic tradition
BARONESS HALE is a trailblazer in more ways than one. The first female president of the Supreme Court has again broken new ground as she becomes the only smiling portrait to hang in one of London’s illustrious Inns of Court.
Lady Hale, 73, who was appointed last year, had her portrait painted by David Cobley after Gray’s Inn commissioned it to hang in the hall.
The Supreme Court judge is a member of the Inn, which called her to the bar in 1969.
The unconventional portrait, due to be installed in August, is only the third at the Inn to depict a female judge, with one of the others also being of Lady Hale and the third showing Dame Rose Heilbron, the Inn’s first female Treasurer.
It will hang alongside portraits of Lord Birkenhead, former Lord Chancellor, and Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, former Lord Chief Justice, who retired last year.
Lady Hale, a family law specialist, has previously been described as the “Beyoncé of the legal profession” due to her popularity among young lawyers and students.
Mr Cobley said the portrait had been a “privilege” to paint. “I found Lady Hale an extremely amiable, friendly, likeable person,” he told The Daily Telegraph. “She has an incredibly important job but really does have the common touch and we just got on very well. She smiles a lot so it seemed to be a natural thing to do.”
Tony Harking, the under treasurer of the Inn, said: “The style of the painting is somewhat different to the others, really reflecting her very unique style, the others are a little more austere”.
The painting has also attracted comment for a pot of red ballpoint pens which is prominent at the front of the frame. Mr Cobley said they were intended to communicate the judge’s approachable nature.
“The red provided a bit of colour in the foreground but it does suggest something of the common touch, which is what I referred to earlier,” he said. “She does have a very easy way with her and I wanted to try and get that across if I could.”
‘She does have a very easy way with her and I wanted to try and get that across if I could’