Shakespeare to Winehouse open 9:00am–7:00pm on Thu, Fri, Sat from 7 July
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (b. 1926) is Britain's longest reigning monarch. The eldest of the two daughters of the Duke and Duchess of York, who became King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, she was ten years old when the abdication of her uncle, Edward VIII, and her father’s accession to the throne made her heir presumptive. At 21 she married Philip Mountbatten, who was created HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. In 1952, they set out on a tour of the Commonwealth which was to have included Australia and New Zealand; on the way, in Kenya, Elizabeth received news of her father's death. Her coronation took place on 2 June 1953. On 6 February 2022 she became the first ever British monarch to mark a Platinum Jubilee.
One of few photographers commissioned to take a portrait for Her Majesty's Golden Jubilee in 2002, Melbourne-born Polly Borland was allowed five minutes for the shoot. 'All of a sudden, I see this woman, who's a lot more petite than I'd imagined, a lot more beautiful than I'd imagined, a lot richer than I'd imagined,' Borland says. 'I couldn't talk, I couldn't remember anything'. Nevertheless, she shot two rolls of film, resulting in two portraits. Both are now iconic for their witty, contemporary aesthetic, although the artist still thinks 'it's a miracle I got two good photos'.
Purchased 2021
© Polly Borland
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves: who we read, who we watch, who we listen to, who we cheer for, who we aspire to be, and who we'll never forget. The Companion is available to buy online and in the Portrait Gallery Store.
Australian photographer, Polly Borland, describes the hectic experience of photographing Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Traversing paint and pixels, Inga Walton examines portraits of select women in Tudors to Windsors: British Royal Portraits.