31 year old Isobel Peachey is an accomplished award-winning portrait artist, but until now she had never before been commissioned to paint a royal portrait.

Talking about how she was chosen, Isobel said:
“At my interview with Cunard, I answered many questions about how I would approach an important commission, but it was only at the end of the interview that the subject was revealed as The Queen. This was both a shock and a marvellous surprise”. Isobel told PutneySW15.com that she:
"..painted the portrait at my home in Putney as I needed to keep the work secret until the unveiling."

The Queen granted three sittings for the portrait which is a three-quarter length painting showing her dressed in blue and wearing Queen Victoria’s collet necklace and earrings, which she also wore for her Coronation in 1953. The new official portrait unveiled by Isobel shows The Queen in the Yellow Drawing Room at Buckinghamn Palace.

 

Commenting on how the artist was chosen, Cunard's president and managing director Peter Shanks said:
“Apart from being impressed by the quality of Isobel’s work, which we originally saw on display in the National Portrait Gallery, we were keen to offer the commission to a young artist who had never before had such an opportunity. Isobel is, in fact, the youngest female artist ever to paint the monarch, and the quality of the finished work is such that our confidence has been greatly rewarded. It is a truly wonderful picture of Her Majesty. It is even more remarkable when you consider that, lacking a private studio, she executed this magnificent painting in her mum’s attic!”

Her Majesty will see the finished portrait for the first time on 11 October, when she visits Southampton to name Queen Elizabeth. The portrait will hang in a prominent position in the ship’s Grand Lobby on deck 2, near the B Stairway and Cafe Carinthia.

 

 

photos courtesy of Steve Dunlop