This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
New portrait of the Queen unveiled ahead of Platinum Jubilee
By Tempus | 13 May 2022
As part of a wider exhibition at London’s 45 Park Lane, royal holographer Rob Munday has retrieved and remastered a unique, never-before-seen headshot of the monarch from 2004
With Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II approaching 70 years on the throne, commemorations and celebrations have been scheduled up and down the country, from street parties to special TV programming.
But in West London, iconic Art Deco hotel 45 Park Lane, part of the Dorchester collection, an intriguing tribute is being paid to the Queen in the form of a brand new work by Rob Munday, creator of the first officially commissioned 3D/holographic portrait of Her Majesty The Queen in 2004.
The shot comes from a photoshoot in 2004 which Munday undertook for the Island of Jersey, to create the first ever holographic headshot of the Queen to commemorate 800 years of the island's allegiance to the Crown. Of the thousands of photos taken, an austere, regal portrait was eventually chosen (which is also now used on the Jersey £100 note), but the upcoming Jubilee this year saw Munday dive back into his archives to discover a fascinating and unique portrait that he felt the world had to see.
The shot, which Munday unveiled last week as part of a wider exhibition at the hotel, shows the monarch off-guard and smiling. According to Munday's recollection, the Queen had reacted to an unscripted and amusing comment made by her best friend and dresser Miss Angela Kelly, as Angela rearranged her clothing.
An ultra-high-resolution portrait set on a jet black background, the portrait has discovered a new lease of life under the title Platinum Queen: Felicity.
Speaking about the newly unveiled portrait and the Queen's unique facial expression, Munday said: "The Queen’s daily life is so full of responsibility and duty that it was wonderful to see this fleeting moment of relaxation and pleasure. It is an uplifting portrait, so different from many of the more sombre portraits commissioned in recent years and a befitting celebration for her Platinum Jubilee."
Platinum Queen: Felicity was unveiled as part of ‘Presence’, a solo exhibition of light sculptures by Rob Munday focusing on the themes of entity, reality and the essence of existence. Munday will showcase selected large scale light sculptures from his acclaimed NATURALIUM series along with brand new works to be unveiled at the exhibition.
Presence runs from 4 May to 20 June 2022