Northern Irish artist Colin Davidson has remembered painting the Queen as an experience he will “forever hold dear”.
His striking depiction of the late monarch was commissioned by the Co-operation Ireland charity and unveiled by her during a special event at Crosby Hall, London, in 2016.
The large canvas, roughly measuring 4ft by 5ft, depicts the Queen wearing a turquoise Karl Ludwig day dress and in a reflective mood, with a hint of a smile on her face.
Appearing on BBC News, Mr Davidson recalled his two-hour sitting with the Queen at Buckingham Palace in May that year.
He said: “The sitting was in the Yellow Drawing Room and I can remember being out of my depth completely. That was just how I felt.
“I was standing. Our appointment was at 11am that day in May and I can remember standing by the door waiting for the Queen to walk in, and the changing of the guard just struck up outside.
“Of course, I remember in my younger days standing outside the gates watching the changing of the guard, so to hear the band, to see them, and at that stage the Queen just to walk in was just something that I will forever hold dear.”
Mr Davidson said he and the Queen were “were off to a good start because she quipped with me how appropriate it was that it was the Irish Guard playing that day”.
He added: “I think I also then had the nerve to say to her, ‘Ma’am, it is probably the millionth time that someone has wished you a happy birthday but may I do it too?’ and she stopped in her tracks and went, ‘Yes, I think it is about the millionth time’.
“There was a lightness, her warmth, and also the fact she made me feel completely at my ease, which is a story that we have heard so many times.”
The Belfast-born artist is best known for his large-scale head paintings and has also painted public figures such as singer Ed Sheeran, Hollywood actor Brad Pitt and former German chancellor Angela Merkel.
His painting of the Queen was commissioned by the Co-operation Ireland charity, which works to promote reconciliation in Northern Ireland.
The Queen herself unveiled the work at Crosby Hall, the home of Henry VIII’s former chancellor Sir Thomas More, with Mr Davidson in attendance.
On BBC News, Mr Davidson joked he sometimes did not know why he chose to be “in the same room” as his sitter when his work is first shown.
Recalling speaking to Queen there, he added: “I don’t know where the nerve came from but the first thing I said to her was, ‘Are you still talking to me, Ma’am?’
“And, of course, she turned around with that familiar smile that I had seen during those two hours that we had spent together and said, ‘Of course I am still talking to you’, and commented on how splendid the painting was – so that is something I hold dear.”
