{"id":385320,"date":"2026-04-18T05:05:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T05:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/385320\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T05:05:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T05:05:11","slug":"a-passport-photo-one-doesnt-need-one-richard-eden-reveals-what-the-late-queen-told-artist-as-he-took-never-before-seen-images","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/385320\/","title":{"rendered":"A passport photo? One doesn’t need one! RICHARD EDEN reveals what the late Queen told artist as he took never-before-seen images"},"content":{"rendered":"

By RICHARD EDEN, DIARY EDITOR<\/a> <\/p>\n

Published: 20:15 EDT, 17 April 2026 | Updated: 21:04 EDT, 17 April 2026 <\/p>\n

She had a fortune of millions, a palace and castles, as well as the biggest private art collection in the world.<\/p>\n

There were, however, a handful of things that Queen Elizabeth II<\/a> never possessed. And one of them was a passport.<\/p>\n

This was a point made clear in amusing fashion to the artist Chris Levine when the late monarch sat for him at Buckingham Palace<\/a>, the Daily Mail can reveal today.<\/p>\n

Levine’s holographic portrait of the Queen, who would have turned 100 next Tuesday, was described by the National Portrait Gallery as ‘the most evocative image of a royal by any artist’.<\/p>\n

And he has now released, exclusively to the Mail, another striking shot and unseen passport-style images from one of his two sittings with the Queen, who died in 2022 aged 96.<\/p>\n

Levine said: ‘When I was positioning the Queen to have her 3D laser scan taken, my assistant, Nina Duncan, said, ‘It’s a bit like having your passport photo taken, Your Majesty’.<\/p>\n

‘Ma’am replied with a smile, ‘One doesn’t need a passport photo’. I took the head-on picture just after that moment.’<\/p>\n

He explained: ‘I captured the moment with a small digital, hand-held camera. I always liked it but never released it.’<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The late Queen was photographed by Chris Levine in the Yellow Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace in 2004<\/p>\n

\"Mr <\/p>\n

Mr Levine pictured taking the ‘passport’ photographs of the late monarch, who died in 2022 aged 96<\/p>\n

\"Her <\/p>\n

Her late Majesty was also pictured by Mr Levine in Lightness of Being – the 2008 portrait was described by the National Portrait Gallery as\u00a0a ‘remarkable but subtle subversion of traditional royal portraiture’<\/p>\n

\"Mr <\/p>\n

Mr Levine captured the passport photos in 2024 after being commissioned by Jersey to mark 800 years of the island’s loyalty to the British monarch<\/p>\n

As the royal website makes clear: ‘When travelling overseas, the Sovereign does not require a British passport. As a British passport is issued in the name of His Majesty, it is unnecessary for the King to possess one.’<\/p>\n

The Queen first sat for Levine in 2003 and his celebrated image captured her, uniquely, with her eyes closed. When he arrived at the palace, he had just returned from a ten-day meditative silent retreat. The Queen told him: ‘My meditation is my gardening at Balmoral.’<\/p>\n

At her second sitting, they discussed titles for the first ever holographic portraits of the Queen: Lightness of Being (eyes open) and Equanimity (eyes shut).<\/p>\n

‘Nodding enthusiastically’ at the suggestion of the latter, she remarked: ‘It’s appropriate \u2013 things aren’t always how they seem.’ Levine reflected: ‘I often still wonder what she meant by that?’<\/p>\n

He worked closely with the Queen’s dresser and confidante, Angela Kelly. ‘The entire experience was just wonderful, working with the palace, and in particular Angela Kelly, with whom I got to style the Queen and chose the [coronation diamond] diadem.<\/p>\n

‘On the morning of the sitting, I got a call from one of her aides, telling me there had been an oversight in collecting the crown and did I really need it? I said, ‘Actually, yes, I do’. Minutes later, Angela came to the Yellow Drawing Room where we had the 3D camera set up, and gave me the crown.<\/p>\n

‘She told me Ma’am had said, ‘If he wants the diadem, he shall have the diadem’. And with that, all the security protocols were short-circuited and Angela popped over to get it. It was a great honour to create the work and I put my heart and soul into it.’<\/p>\n

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