Who is the real Queen?
Enjoying a private giggle with family; ushering her troop of dogs towards a waiting plane; or as portrayed by artists Andy Warhol and Lucian Freud – Queen Elizabeth II has a great many faces. Indeed, our monarch is undoubtedly the most depicted woman in the world. But as her momentous Diamond Jubilee year draws to a close, two spectacular new exhibitions reveal her at her most vivid, her most iconic – and also at her most private.
Staged by the Royal Collection, The Queen: Portraits Of A Monarch (at Windsor Castle) brings together many of her most famous portraits, including those by Lucian Freud, Cecil Beaton and Pietro Annigoni, while The Queen: 60 Photographs For 60 Years (at Edinburgh’s Palace of Holyroodhouse) captures her remarkable personality on film.
The Queen is pictured at Aberdeen Airport on her way to Balmoral for a few days’ holiday, accompanied by several of her dogs
But which is the real Queen? Well, each image offers a glimpse of one part of her personality. Certainly, Lisa Heighway, curator of the Holyroodhouse exhibition, believes that in the wake of a year of Diamond Jubilee celebrations and Olympic patriotism, the photographs offer a fresh and unexpected insight into Queen Elizabeth as a ‘whole and rounded person’.
‘Queen Victoria is the only other monarch to have achieved this remarkable feat,’ says Lisa of the Diamond Jubilee. ‘This collection of photographs really focuses our minds upon the incredible job the Queen has done, both as Head of State and the Commonwealth.’
On board HMY Britannia in August 1985, when members of the Royal Family joined the Queen for her Western Isles cruise in Scotland. The annual cruise enabled the family to enjoy a few days away from public engagements, while exploring some of the more remote areas of Scotland
It has certainly been a life of unerring dedication and commitment and it is perceptively condensed into these two exhibitions. But what makes both so fascinating is how they reveal the Queen as a truly multifaceted personality. Among the Windsor portraits, Cecil Beaton captures her ethereal majesty as the new Queen, while Andy Warhol, in a series acquired by the Royal Collection in 2012, reveals her as a very modern icon.
The Royal Family attend the 2006 Braemar Gathering in Deeside, which includes spectacles such as stone-putting and highland dancing. The crowds salute their monarch as Chieftain of the Gathering
At the Holyroodhouse exhibition, meanwhile, ‘we see her functioning as a wife, a mother and a grandmother – those close relationships that a ect us all,’ says Lisa. ‘We get a glimpse of that personal side of her life, and moments of her enjoying her pastimes… her horses and dogs.’
We are privy to family scenes in which she is 'totally relaxed and at ease' as well as more formal shots of state occasions. 'Our aim was to portray all aspects of the Queen's life,' she adds.
Andy Warhol’s Reigning Queens (Royal Edition): Queen Elizabeth II Of The United Kingdom, 1985
So does Lisa have a favourite photograph? ‘I’m very drawn to Anwar Hussein’s photograph of the Queen at Aberdeen airport. It’s a wonderful image – a very mundane location… and yet the Queen looks so elegant with her dogs, en route to Balmoral.’
But it is Jim Irvine’s shot of the Queen at the Braemar Gathering in 2006 that Lisa anticipates being particularly popular with the public. ‘The photographer has caught her falling about with laughter.’
HM Queen Elizabeth II by Raphael Maklouf, 1984. In 1982, the Royal Mint ran a competition to fi nd an artist to make a new image of the Queen to feature on British coins: Maklouf was selected. His initial designs were based on a photograph taken by Lord Snowdon, but once appointed he was granted two sittings with Her Majesty to complete the bronze bust. It featured on coins from 1985 to 1998
But whether you fall in love with Lucian Freud’s painted portrait, Franta Belsky’s bronze sculpture, or simply the Queen’s heartfelt smile in one of the many photographs, you will certainly see her in a new and revealing light.
The Queen: 60 Photographs For 60 Years is at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh, until 24 February. The Queen: Portraits Of A Monarch is on at Windsor
Staged by the Royal Collection, The Queen: Portraits Of A Monarch (at Windsor Castle) brings together many of her most famous portraits, including those by Lucian Freud, Cecil Beaton and Pietro Annigoni, while The Queen: 60 Photographs For 60 Years (at Edinburgh’s Palace of Holyroodhouse) captures her remarkable personality on film.
The Queen is pictured at Aberdeen Airport on her way to Balmoral for a few days’ holiday, accompanied by several of her dogsBut which is the real Queen? Well, each image offers a glimpse of one part of her personality. Certainly, Lisa Heighway, curator of the Holyroodhouse exhibition, believes that in the wake of a year of Diamond Jubilee celebrations and Olympic patriotism, the photographs offer a fresh and unexpected insight into Queen Elizabeth as a ‘whole and rounded person’.
‘Queen Victoria is the only other monarch to have achieved this remarkable feat,’ says Lisa of the Diamond Jubilee. ‘This collection of photographs really focuses our minds upon the incredible job the Queen has done, both as Head of State and the Commonwealth.’
On board HMY Britannia in August 1985, when members of the Royal Family joined the Queen for her Western Isles cruise in Scotland. The annual cruise enabled the family to enjoy a few days away from public engagements, while exploring some of the more remote areas of ScotlandIt has certainly been a life of unerring dedication and commitment and it is perceptively condensed into these two exhibitions. But what makes both so fascinating is how they reveal the Queen as a truly multifaceted personality. Among the Windsor portraits, Cecil Beaton captures her ethereal majesty as the new Queen, while Andy Warhol, in a series acquired by the Royal Collection in 2012, reveals her as a very modern icon.
The Royal Family attend the 2006 Braemar Gathering in Deeside, which includes spectacles such as stone-putting and highland dancing. The crowds salute their monarch as Chieftain of the GatheringAt the Holyroodhouse exhibition, meanwhile, ‘we see her functioning as a wife, a mother and a grandmother – those close relationships that a ect us all,’ says Lisa. ‘We get a glimpse of that personal side of her life, and moments of her enjoying her pastimes… her horses and dogs.’
We are privy to family scenes in which she is 'totally relaxed and at ease' as well as more formal shots of state occasions. 'Our aim was to portray all aspects of the Queen's life,' she adds.
Andy Warhol’s Reigning Queens (Royal Edition): Queen Elizabeth II Of The United Kingdom, 1985So does Lisa have a favourite photograph? ‘I’m very drawn to Anwar Hussein’s photograph of the Queen at Aberdeen airport. It’s a wonderful image – a very mundane location… and yet the Queen looks so elegant with her dogs, en route to Balmoral.’
But it is Jim Irvine’s shot of the Queen at the Braemar Gathering in 2006 that Lisa anticipates being particularly popular with the public. ‘The photographer has caught her falling about with laughter.’
HM Queen Elizabeth II by Raphael Maklouf, 1984. In 1982, the Royal Mint ran a competition to fi nd an artist to make a new image of the Queen to feature on British coins: Maklouf was selected. His initial designs were based on a photograph taken by Lord Snowdon, but once appointed he was granted two sittings with Her Majesty to complete the bronze bust. It featured on coins from 1985 to 1998But whether you fall in love with Lucian Freud’s painted portrait, Franta Belsky’s bronze sculpture, or simply the Queen’s heartfelt smile in one of the many photographs, you will certainly see her in a new and revealing light.
The Queen: 60 Photographs For 60 Years is at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh, until 24 February. The Queen: Portraits Of A Monarch is on at Windsor