A gold crown upon her head, her mouth set in determination, she looks ahead with an expression of majesty.
This fiery red portrait of the Queen was painted by Dame Maureen Lipman as a tribute ahead of this weekend’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
The star of stage and screen told the JC: “The one of the Queen just kind of sprang from me wanting to do something for the Jubilee and then not quite knowing what.
“I was writing an article about how much I love the Queen, how much I respect her. So, I was just thinking really, and when I think, I tend to doodle.”
The resulting image on her iPad resembles a postage stamp, if in a more abstract style.
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Dame Maureen's portrait of the Queen in honour of her Platinum Jubilee
Dame Maureen is unstinting in her respect for the Queen: “She’s been more hands-on as a monarch than probably anyone in history. It’s very brave to do what they do in this mad world of fake news. I think she’s very courageous and very dutiful, and very beautiful actually, and informed. It’s a job that very few people would want.”
This affection for the Monarchy is in stark contrast to her views of those on the far left who she battled against when Jeremy Corbyn led the Labour Party.
Dismissing “the sort of Corbynista view of a republic, the ‘I don’t know the words to God Save the Queen’ or ‘I won’t sing them’”, she says: “As a third-generation Jew, who recently rediscovered my Polish roots, I feel intensely fond of the good things that I regard as traditional about this country.
“I fail to see what you gain by removing hard-working and generally extremely intelligent and astute people like the Queen from their jobs.
“People tend to forget just how much revenue and fascination people find with our Royal Family. They’re too fixed on what goes wrong, and not on what, after years and years and years, has gone so right.”
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Maureen Lipman was made a Dame in the 2020 Queen's birthday honours (Photo: Getty Images)
Seeing the Queen go about her duties in person, including during her stints on TV soap Coronation Street, has only increased Dame Maureen’s admiration: “There are enough occasions where I’ve watched her faultlessly speak knowledgeably about everything — theatre, and even talking to the people who worked backstage at Corrie. She does her homework.
“She’s not a figurehead, not to me, not from what I’ve seen. She’s a key worker... and we should go out there every Wednesday night and clap.”
The portrait of the Queen that Dame Maureen painted in April now occupies pride of place in a small antique shop in Central London, owned by Ian Lieber, 81, a retired interior designer, who decorates the window of his shop for every major royal milestone.
It is a virtual shrine to Her Majesty, made up of bunting, photos of the monarch, and artwork from local friends, including Dame Maureen. Passers-by stop frequently to take photographs of the colourful royal tribute.
He told the JC: “I’ve always felt that the Queen has set a standard. And being a designer, I have standards myself, and I have standards and principles in my work, in the way I treat people, and in the way I want to be treated.”
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Ian Lieber in front of his specially-dressed shop window in honour of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee
Mr Lieber ultimately attributes his deep love of the Royal Family to his maternal grandmother, who came from a “quite religious” Jewish family from Romania.
He recalled: “She was a very elegant lady. I remember when the Coronation was on and she read the paper and said, ‘Look, the Queen is saying don’t make me a film star.’”
He added: “As Maureen Lipman said recently, when she was asked what she thinks when she thinks of the Queen, and she said ‘survival’.
“And it is true, and I’ve always thought what a fantastic person she is, and what a hard job. And, of course, there is a glamour to it as well, and there is a history to it.”
This seasoned royal observer believes the Royal Family’s future is in good hands: “I think Kate, Duchess of Cambridge is doing a brilliant job — I like her, I think she’s brilliant, and I think William is good as well. I think they, when they become monarchs, will be a little like the European royalty – they’ll just be figureheads.
“There will never be another Queen Elizabeth II.”
