New portrait marks royal milestone
BRITAIN: They never seemed likely to make much of a fuss about their 70th wedding anniversary.
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh rolled back the years, however, with a special commemorative portrait issued by Buckingham Palace on Saturday in honour of yet another landmark in their record-breaking marriage.
The photograph of the royal couple, both in their nineties, was taken in the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle earlier this month. It was accompanied by the issue of a new set of six postage stamps marking the couple’s platinum anniversary. The series of six images includes the bride and groom walking down the aisle following their Westminster Abbey service on November 20, 1947. The Royals are also pictured on their honeymoon in the grounds of Broadlands in Romney, Hampshire, looking at photos of the wedding. And two more stamps show the pair marking their engagement at Buckingham Palace in July 1947.
For the longest-serving monarch and the longest-living consort in British history, the portrait was a moment to reflect on a remarkable seven-decade union that has far surpassed the previous record for royal marital longevity.
Sharp-eyed connoisseurs might note that the two 18th-century paintings partly visible in the new photograph, which was taken by Matt Holyoak, are Thomas Gainsborough portraits of King George III and Queen Charlotte, who were married for 57 years until George’s death in 1820. Although George tends to be remembered as the ‘‘mad king’’ who lost Britain’s American colonies, his marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Unlike other monarchs of the period he never took a mistress.
Philatelists will note that the price of a stamp is not what it was when Elizabeth and Philip were married in Westminster Abbey on November 20, 1947. The newly issued first-class stamps now cost 65p each; back then a stamp on a letter cost tuppence-ha’penny (2 and a halfd in old money).
The new photograph, distributed by the Camera Press agency - which was founded in 1947 - shows the Queen wearing a cream dress by Angela Kelly. It is the same dress which she chose for a service of thanksgiving to mark their diamond wedding anniversary held at the Abbey where they were married. She was also wearing a ‘‘scarab’’ brooch in gold, rubies and diamonds, given to her by her husband in 1966. Philip’s tie, appropriately enough, displays a Windsor knot. - Sunday Times