New portrait of The Queen unveiled honouring her record reign

A new portrait of The Queen to mark the occasion of Her Majesty becoming Britain’s longest-reigning monarch has been unveiled.

The new portrait was commissioned by Illustrated London News Ltd (ILN), with collaboration from The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) and the Royal Warrant Holders Association.

Painted in oils, it portrays The Queen in the robes of the Order of the Garter, attending the Order of the Garter Ceremony at Windsor Castle in June 2015.

Queen Elizabeth II by Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust scholar Alastair Barford, showing The Queen in the Robes of the Order of the Garter as she attends the Garter Service at Windsor. Commissioned by Illustrated London News in 2015 to mark the occasion of Queen Elizabeth II becoming Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.

The artist is Alastair Barford, a gifted British portrait artist, and QEST and Leverhulme Scholar. He has recently completed his scholarship at the renowned atelier of artist Charles H Cecil in Florence. A donation will be made to QEST, the charitable arm of the Royal Warrant Holders Association, for every copy of The Record Reign sold.

Lisa Barnard, Chief Executive of ILN, commented: “We are proud to publish this splendid new portrait in our Record Reign publications. This is a historic tradition for ILN, as we have commissioned portraits of every monarch since launching in 1842 as the world’s first illustrated newspaper. In 1953, ILN celebrated Elizabeth II’s Coronation with a beautiful portrait of the young Queen wearing the Garter Star and Riband, painted by the ILN artist Terence Cuneo.”

“The Order of the Garter is the highest order of chivalry, so this was a fitting occasion to depict Her Majesty in a dynamic new painting. It echoes Pietro Annigoni’s famous 1953 portrait of Queen Elizabeth II in Order of the Garter robes. We are especially pleased to showcase a rising young artist, Alastair Barford, who is supremely talented, and to support British craftsmanship in so doing,” Barnard added.

In 1897, ILN paid tribute to Queen Victoria’s era-defining monarchy with The Record Number of a Record Reign. The publication commemorated Victoria’s reign and the accomplishments of Victorian Britain. It featured an etching of an extraordinary portrait of Queen Victoria during her stay at Nice in the South of France. It was signed by The Queen and executed by ILN artist Amédée Forestier, who travelled to Nice as ILN’s Royal Correspondent.

In addition to his portrait of Her Majesty, Alastair Barford has created an additional charcoal sketch of Queen Elizabeth to accompany the Forestier portrait, and they are published together in ILN’s new Record Reign publications.

One may read more about the publication in the previously published article: Limited edition book set announced marking The Queen’s record reign here on Royal Central.

Photos courtesy of: Alastair Barford, Artist and Record Reign © Illustrated London News Ltd.