She had a fortune of millions, a palace and castles, as well as the biggest private art collection in the world.
There were, however, a handful of things that Queen Elizabeth II never possessed. And one of them was a passport.
This was a point made clear in amusing fashion to the artist Chris Levine when the late monarch sat for him at Buckingham Palace, the Daily Mail can reveal today.
Levine’s holographic portrait of the Queen, who would have turned 100 next Tuesday, was described by the National Portrait Gallery as ‘the most evocative image of a royal by any artist’.
And he has now released, exclusively to the Mail, another striking shot and unseen passport-style images from one of his two sittings with the Queen, who died in 2022 aged 96.
Levine said: ‘When I was positioning the Queen to have her 3D laser scan taken, my assistant, Nina Duncan, said, ‘It’s a bit like having your passport photo taken, Your Majesty’.
‘Ma’am replied with a smile, ‘One doesn’t need a passport photo’. I took the head-on picture just after that moment.’
He explained: ‘I captured the moment with a small digital, hand-held camera. I always liked it but never released it.’
As the royal website makes clear: ‘When travelling overseas, the Sovereign does not require a British passport. As a British passport is issued in the name of His Majesty, it is unnecessary for the King to possess one.’
The Queen first sat for Levine in 2003 and his celebrated image captured her, uniquely, with her eyes closed. When he arrived at the palace, he had just returned from a ten-day meditative silent retreat. The Queen told him: ‘My meditation is my gardening at Balmoral.’
At her second sitting, they discussed titles for the first ever holographic portraits of the Queen: Lightness of Being (eyes open) and Equanimity (eyes shut).
‘Nodding enthusiastically’ at the suggestion of the latter, she remarked: ‘It’s appropriate – things aren’t always how they seem.’ Levine reflected: ‘I often still wonder what she meant by that?’
He worked closely with the Queen’s dresser and confidante, Angela Kelly. ‘The entire experience was just wonderful, working with the palace, and in particular Angela Kelly, with whom I got to style the Queen and chose the [coronation diamond] diadem.
‘On the morning of the sitting, I got a call from one of her aides, telling me there had been an oversight in collecting the crown and did I really need it? I said, ‘Actually, yes, I do’. Minutes later, Angela came to the Yellow Drawing Room where we had the 3D camera set up, and gave me the crown.
‘She told me Ma’am had said, ‘If he wants the diadem, he shall have the diadem’. And with that, all the security protocols were short-circuited and Angela popped over to get it. It was a great honour to create the work and I put my heart and soul into it.’
