Queen Elizabeth ‘much preferred’ wearing Diamond Diadem for key reason claims photographer
Queen Elizabeth was photographed many times during her reign, but one of the most memorable times was the 3D/holographic portrait of Her Majesty in 2004, known as ‘Equanimity’. Now hanging in the National Portrait Gallery, the photographer himself Rob Munday spoke exclusively to Express.co.uk about the diadem worn by Elizabeth II in that famous picture.
Mr Munday told Express.co.uk: “In that particular portrait ‘Equanimity’, it was a joint creative collaboration between myself and Chris Levine.
“It was Chris that actually chose the Diamond Diadem or the George IV State Diadem, originally made for George IV.
“I believe Queen Victoria wore it for her wedding, and anyway Chris chose that.
“But at the same time, I happen to know the Queen much preferred wearing that of all the crowns, because it’s the least heavy.
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“She didn’t like wearing the crowns very much because they were very heavy and hurt her head,” the photographer claimed.
Mr Munday also shared an anecdote about the late Queen’s personal dresser Angela Kelly.
He said: “Angela Kelly had sewn a piece of velvet all around the rim, the gold rim of the crown, before she put it on, so it didn’t hurt so much.
“That’s the crown in the ‘Equanimity’ portrait,” the photographer added.
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‘Equanimity’ is a black and white portrait, and Mr Munday opened up about how he decided what Her Majesty would wear for the shoot.
He continued: “We spent the whole first half of the sitting shooting the picture in very dark clothes, which essentially disappeared in the shots.
“So halfway through the second sitting, I asked Angela Kelly, and suggested that the Queen wear a white top, because I just needed something at the bottom to balance the face into balance, as the crown was very three dimensionally volumous.
“So I asked Angela Kelly, she said, ‘Yeah, no problem, I’ll run off to the Queen’s wardrobe and see what we’ve got’.
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“She left us completely alone with the Queen, which you could happen quite a lot of times, and came back with about five different capes and styles and what have you.
“The second we saw the white shawl, I mean, it was just the obvious choices. We all said, ‘Great. That’s the one!'”
During the Platinum Jubilee, Mr Munday unveiled a previously unseen picture of the Queen, which he called ‘Felicity’.
In the picture, Her Majesty reacted to an unscripted and amusing comment made by Angela Kelly as she was rearranging the Queen’s clothing.
It was a candid shot by Mr Munday and it remained unnoticed until he found it in his hard drive during the coronavirus lockdown in 2020. He decided the Platinum Jubilee was the perfect time to share the photo with the general public.
A comment on social media summed up the shot perfectly according to Mr Munday.
It said: “Her facial expression shows a depth in her personality that reaches back to the days of her youth when the enormous weight of wearing the crown of England was not yet realised.”
Three royal artists, which includes Rob Munday, are celebrating their portraits of the Queen at the Quantus Gallery Tribute until October 12.
Quantus Gallery’s exhibition Majesty reveals Rob Munday’s three holographic portraits of the Queen: ‘Felicity’, ‘Equanimity’ and ‘In The Blink Of An Eye’. The exhibition also features Frances Segelman’s sculptures of Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III, and finally Christian Furr’s Portrait of The Queen and his three Diamond Dust Queen portraits.
