The pandemic has caused everyone to reevaluate how they go about things. This goes up to the very top, with some royals drastically changing their lifestyles to deal with the situation.
Queen Elizabeth II recently unveiled an exquisite new portrait in a virtual ceremony. However, since she could not attend the event in person, she had to participate in a video call, enjoying the piece through the screen of her computer.
It does not seem like this change affected the ceremony. The Queen still seemed delighted by the portrait, and everyone following the event praised her for yet following through, even if she had to be restricted physically.
The portrait will likely be the most memorable tribute to the Queen’s extraordinary life and hard work during her reign.
The portrait was painted by Miriam Escofet, and it was specifically vetted by the National Portrait Gallery.
Unfortunately, the artist revealed that she never got a chance to actually meet the Queen in person due to the global situation, though she was still able to get plenty of details about her in the piece.
Escofet said this about her virtual interaction with the Queen: “She seemed to react very positively to it. She was smiling, asking how long it took and if I had any more projects on the go after this. When I explained certain elements of the painting, the teacup, she made some amusing comments. She said, ‘but there’s no tea in the cup” What I wasn’t expecting was her humor. I’m not saying she’s cracking jokes, but you can feel it. There’s a real sharpness, a keenness; she’s really there, she really takes you in. I guess it’s a wisdom.”
The artist beamed about her work by saying: “I really wanted to catch that essence of her in the portrait. That’s a quality that you only really feel when you meet someone. She’s a very powerful, small person, and quite luminous. You can feel this life energy from her; it’s very striking. That became very useful for me because it meant I could get almost an aura of regalness around her in what was actually trying to be a very humane portrait of her.”
Many have been pleasantly surprised by the portrait, and it has managed to generate some significant discussions online, even in circles not traditionally related to art or similar topics.
It appears that many followers of the royal family are very impressed by the piece.
