Painted to commemorate the Coronation of Queen Camilla on 6 May 2023, this portrait was created over the course of a year between 2024 and 2025. Commissioned by The Queen from the artist Paul S Benney, all six sittings took place in the Garden Room of Clarence House. This location on the ground floor, with windows overlooking the lush foliage of the garden, casts a soft green glow across the sitter, and explains the hue selected for the background.

Queen Camilla wears her Coronation Dress, which was designed by Bruce Oldfield. Made of ivory coloured silk, it features silver and gold embroidered floral designs, representing Their Majesties’ affection for nature. The artist has taken care to include The Queen’s two rescue dogs, Bluebell and Beth, which are embroidered near the hem, as well as the rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock that represent the four nations of the United Kingdom. The purple silk velvet Robe of Estate has been positioned to one side, as if it has just been removed after the ceremony. This swathe of fabric guides the eye up towards the figure. On top of this is placed Queen Camilla’s Crown, originally created for the Coronation of Queen Mary in 1911. Around The Queen’s neck is a diamond necklace first created for Queen Victoria in 1858 and now known as the Coronation necklace, having been worn at all Coronations since 1902. The son of a goldsmith, Benney has a particular sensitivity for the depiction of jewellery and metal thread. Here he has taken care to show the variety of hues of gold that exist in the embroidery as it catches the light and the light-reflecting qualities of the diamonds.

A self-taught artist, Benney produced a variety of sketches prior to commencing the final work. He then created a monochrome painting directly on the canvas, before adding colour while maintaining the same balance of tonal values. Benney encourages his sitters to converse during the sittings, preferring the face to be active and expressive. He describes his practice of taking hundreds of mental snapshots over the course of the sitting, which are then integrated into the final result to create a multi-layered image. He seeks to produce portraits that are both illusionistic and painterly at the same time, with brushstrokes that are visible when up close to the canvas but that resolve into a realistic representation when viewed at a distance. Benney has previously contributed to two portrait series commissioned by The King when Prince of Wales, painting the D-Day veteran Brian Stewart in 2015 (RCIN 408479) and Holocaust survivor Helen Aronson in 2021 (RCIN 408755).