The Queen

September 9 2015

Picture: Nye & Company

Today the Queen becomes the longest reigning British monarch ever. You'll find elsewhere better-written analysis on how she's done it and what it means. Personally, I think the fact that she's still monarch, and that we still have a monarchy, is an extraordinary achievement by an extraordinary person.

All of which reminds me that I've been meaning to write about a portrait of the Queen that came up for sale recently, by the well-regarded contemporary artist Tai-Shan Schierenberg. The above picture was painted from life at Windsor Castle with the Duke of Edinburgh. It's no masterpiece, and the Duke looks unnervingly like Bobby Charlton, but I liked it, and at 6ft by 5ft thought it was an impressive enough thing. It had been commissioned in 1997 by Reader's Digest magazine, which has lately gone bust, hence the sale.

The estimate, at a minor US auction house, was a dismal $800-$1200. A life portrait of the Queen for less than a thousand bucks? I was intrigued, and thought it my patriotic duty to bid strongly and bring this picture back home. But I'm ashamed to say I forgot - there goes the knighthood - and it made a still derisory $5,250, or about £4,000. Isn't that absurdly cheap - or does nobody care for pictures like this anymore?

Update - here in The National, where the Queen is pointedly referred to as 'Mrs Windsor', is an example of silly politics can be up here in Scotland. 

•