As Queen Elizabeth II spent seven decades on the British throne, she became known as an iconic figure all over the world. During her tenure, the former monarch's portrait was painted and photographed on numerous occasions. One royal artist reflected on working with the late Queen for a 2004 portrait, noting that the project could have been "the end" of his career.
Photographer Chris Levine's portrait of Queen Elizabeth, titled "Lightness of Being," was commissioned for the 800th anniversary of Jersey's independence from France. "This shot was actually an outtake," Levine told Hello! magazine in 2025. "A couple of years later, I was looking through the work, and thought: 'Wow, that's pretty powerful.' It's the most evocative image of a royal by any artist, and it's become a historic work."
