Tuesday 13 September 2022 04:19 PM The Queen: Australian artist Ralph Heimans recalls painting the Diamond Jubilee ... trends now
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The Australian-born artist who painted the Queen's acclaimed Diamond Jubilee portrait recalled he was instructed to ask Her Majesty: 'May I take control now ma'am?'.
Ralph Heimans, from Sydney who now lives in South London with his wife and daughters, explained he was allowed a one-hour sitting with the Queen at Buckingham Palace after he was asked to paint her portrait in 2012.
Mr Heimans explained that palace staff told him to use the 'remarkable' phrase 'the moment you begin the sitting'.
'I could not believe that's what I had to say and, in the moment, I couldn't bring myself to say those words. It's like saying "Can I take control of the country?",' he told The Project in a segment airing Tuesday.
The Queen's official Diamond Jubilee portrait titled The Coronation Theatre (pictured) is set on the Cosmati Pavement at Westminster Abbey, the historical site of coronation
Artist Ralph Heimans (pictured) said he thinks the painting 'has more resonance now that it did in the moment'
He added that he was told the Queen would stand for some but not all of the sitting, held in the palace's yellow drawing room, and that there was 'significant discussion' about what the Queen would wear with palace staff but that she was 'running the show'.
He said the Queen chose the Robe of
