The Portraits of Queen Elizabeth II

Portrait 17

This portrait of The Queen is based on a photograph by Peter Grugeon, taken at the time of Her Majesty's Silver Jubilee in 1977, and it is one of the more popular images of The Queen. Her Majesty is depicted wearing Grand Duchess Vladimir's tiara and Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee necklace. The tiara was smuggled out of Russia during the Russian Revolution and is now owned by The Queen. In most renditions of this portrait, the Royal Family Order of King George VI is apparent below the left-hand shoulder of Her Majesty, while the uppermost portion of the Royal Family Order of King George V is apparent in only some renditions of the portrait.

Date of Original Portrait: 1977
Photographer: Peter Grugeon
Portrait 17a
Bradbury Wilkinson's version of this portrait has less shading on The Queen's neck just above Her necklace, than is apparent on the De La Rue engravings (Portrait 17b). There are other subtle variations to the second version, noticeably in the patterns on Her Majesty's dress.
Use of this Portrait:
  • New Zealand -- Nos. 169 to 176.
  • Isle of Man -- No. 39.
Portrait 17b
The De La Rue engraving, as well as reflecting the differences mentioned in Portrait 17a, also represents The Queen with a more cheerful aspect, achieving this through slight differences around Her eyes and lips.
Use of this Portrait:
  • Falkland Islands -- Nos. 12 to 16.
  • Bahamas -- Nos. 42 to 49 and 53 to 56.
  • East Caribbean States -- Nos. 17 to 36.
  • Bermuda -- Nos. 34 to 49.
  • Belize -- Nos. 51 to 65.
  • Cayman Islands -- Nos. 12 to 25.
Portrait 17c
This version of the portrait is unusual, as it is only a portion of the image used on other notes, with the tiara and the necklace not depicted. (The watermark used on the series issued in Gibraltar use the full image with tiara, as it appears in versions a and b above.) Following precedents set elsewhere, this portrait is used on a series of banknotes issued in 2010-11 -- some 33 years after the photograph was taken.
Use of this Portrait:
  • Gibraltar -- Nos. 35 to 39.

© Peter Symes 2012

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