Queen's 80th portrait unveiled

Apr 19, 2006, 15:30 GMT

Britain's Queen Elizabeth has posed for a new portrait to mark her 80th birthday.

The portrait, painted by artist Jemma Phipps, was unveiled yesterday (18.04.06).

It shows the 79-year-old monarch - who turns 80 on Friday (21.04.06) - in an elegant pink outfit she has worn to the prestigious Royal Ascot horse races.

The painting, which depicts the queen holding white gloves and a handbag, was commissioned by England's Duke of Devonshire to mark both the revamp of the famous racecourse as well as the queen's birthday.

Jemma Phipps, who at 28 is the youngest ever artist to paint the queen in person, picked the pink outfit from a selection of clothes presented by the monarch's personal dresser.

She said it was hard to forget she was painting the country's queen.

She was quoted in Britain's Daily Mail newspaper as saying: 'At the end of the first sitting the queen had to go into the next-door stateroom and be photographed for a coin. I was immediately reminded this was no ordinary granny.'

The artist said it was difficult to look at the queen in the same way as her other models.

She was quoted in Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper as saying: 'It was quite hard to concentrate as I was trying to get my head around the fact that I was chatting to the queen and she was making me laugh.'

'She also has amazingly good skin for an 80-year-old. I hope I have done her eyes justice, as they are incredibly beautiful and still lit up.'

A host of events have been lined up to celebrate the milestone birthday.

The queen has invited 100 octogenarians to join her for a special lunch at Buckingham Palace, and will also be featured on a set of commemorative stamps.

Copyright 2006 BANG Media International