Don’t put a tiara on my sculpture, late Queen told artist

Queen Elizabeth II asked a royal sculptor to depict her without her tiara so the bust would be “the same” as the Duke of Edinburgh’s alongside it, the artist has revealed ahead of a new exhibition.

Frances Segelman, who was granted three sittings with the late Queen in 2007, said she asked the monarch if she would like a version of the bronze cast to sit alongside the one she had previously made of the Duke at Buckingham Palace.

“She said that would be very, very nice,” recalled Ms Segelman.

“But looking at the photograph I was showing her, she said: ‘I wouldn't want the tiara on next to the Duke of Edinburgh as he's got just a shirt and tie. So I wouldn't want my tiara on, I would want us to be the same.”

It meant Ms Segelman had to make one version without the tiara, redoing the monarch’s hair.

The sculptor added: “I thought it was very lovely. She was so caring [and] obviously loved him very, very much. Those two are there in the palace together like that and all the others have the tiara. This is quite unusual.”

Three of Ms Segelman’s sculptures depicting the monarch, the Duke of Edinburgh and King Charles feature in an exhibition called Majesty: A Tribute To The Queen, which opened at Quantus Gallery in Spitalfields, east London, on Wednesday.

The exhibition unites three royal artists - Ms Segelman, Rob Munday, who created the first officially commissioned holographic portrait of Elizabeth II in 2004, and Christian Furr, who at 28 became the youngest artist commissioned to paint an official portrait of the sovereign in 1995.

Ms Segelman said the late Queen had been so chatty during her sittings that she struggled to concentrate on her work.

“I really wasn't getting very far,” she said.

“Normally, I don't let my sitters talk because I can't get it done otherwise.

“I thought I'd try and find a way of having a bit of a gap so I said to her: ‘Your Majesty, I don't mind at all if you feel like you would like to have a rest or not talk to me. I'd be absolutely fine.’

“I had to pluck up so much courage, but she never took any notice, she still carried on!”

The late Queen expressed a particular concern for the tourists milling around on the road outside Buckingham Palace before the layout was changed. She also chatted about the various visitors to the palace and a journey she was due to take by train.

Ms Segelman, who has recently been commissioned to sculpt the Queen Consort, said one of the most nerve-wracking moments was having to measure Elizabeth II’s head with callipers - an intimate moment that involved touching her hair and her face.

“It was terrible,” she said. “It was just a memory that I'll never ever ever lose. And you worry, because they’re pointed.

“My intention at the beginning was to go back to my table and write down the measurements from the calliper. But every time I got back, I'd forgotten it or it had moved because my hands were shaking.

“So I kept going backwards and forwards and in the end I decided, you know what, I'm not doing anymore of it because I've just got to relax and enjoy her.”

Majesty: A Tribute To The Queen ends on Oct 12.