I say, dear, you’d look jolly splendid in a frock like that!
WE can, of course, only guess what was going through their minds.
One thing’s for sure, though – the Queen and Prince Philip may rarely have met such an eccentric character as transvestite potter Grayson Perry.
The royals looked on with what looked like kindly bemusement as the outlandish father-of-one gave a speech in a fluorescent pink and red dress, huge round glasses, heavy make-up and a pair of towering purple platform Mary Janes.
Philip, 95, who has a reputation for being brusque, appeared to gaze at the Turner prize-winning ceramicist with a slightly quizzical look. The Queen, meanwhile, gave the artist her full concentration – but may simply have been wondering where he got such an arresting frock.
The 90-year-old monarch met Perry at the Royal Academy of Arts in London on Tuesday where she presented awards to five ‘titans’ of the world of visual arts and architecture. Perry, 56, who calls his female alter-ego Claire, describes himself as ‘art- ist, broadcaster, transvestite, lecturer and worshipper of teddy bears’, wrote on Twitter afterwards: ‘We had the Queen visit yesterday, I hope I look that good at 90.’
The monarch was invited to give the awards in her role as patron of the Royal Academy, in recognition of the nominees’ decades-long work in their respective artistic fields.
During the reception she was presented with a bronze replica sculpture of one of the oak trees in Windsor Great Park to commemorate her contribution to the arts in the year of her 90th birthday.