The Queen at 90: five unusual portraits

The Queen has claimed plenty of records in her 64 year reign (that's just one of them, for starters) and she surely must be close to some kind of special tally when it comes to having her image portrayed. From stamps to coins, the walls of town halls to the many galleries and museums across the world, Elizabeth II is much in demand for portraits. And that means we've had some rather more unusual take on this art form over the past decades. As we wait for more official images to mark her 90th birthday. here are 5 unusual portraits of the Queen.

This mosaic of Queen Elizabeth II by the Russian artist, Boris Anrep, is inside One New Change, London. Its striking design shows the Queen as a young woman and is made of marble, glass and stone. It originally sat in the building that preceded the shopping and office complex, New Change Building. 

(photo Matt Brown via Flickr)

The Queen sat for her first (and only) holographic portrait in 2003 #HM90facts pic.twitter.com/7u4K52hR6o

— BritishMonarchy (@BritishMonarchy) March 15, 2016

As part of its #HM90facts series of tweets, the British Monarchy account reminded us that the Queen has only ever sat for one holographic portrait. It was commissioned by the Jersey Heritage Trust to celebrate 800 years of links between the island the the Monarchy and it was brought to life by artist Chris Levine and holographer Rob Munday. It's since been given to the National Portrait Gallery.

To mark her Diamond Jubilee, a huge mosaic of the Queen were made using lots of little images of people living in the land she had reigned for sixty years. The People's Monarch mosaic is made up of 5.257 photos and measures 38 square metres. It was the idea of BBC South East and toured several parts of that area including Gatwick Airport. 

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The Prince of Wales came face to face with a familiar face at the Ideal Home Exhibition in Diamond Jubilee year when he was shown a portrait of his mother made of yarn. The artist, Emmanuel Y. Obuobi, showed the Queen in one her most famous sittings from a later part of her reign while Charles looked rather pleased with this unusual rendering of the lady he calls 'mummy'.

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The Queen has been shown in Lego several times but this black and white portrait is perhaps the most unusual. It was revealed in 2003 as Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh began a series of engagements links to tourism in the south east of England. 

And there is a special page about the Queen at 90 here.