Focus on Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II – An 80th Birthday Portrait and analyze the Background.
The painting was commissioned by the BBC, and subsequently unveiled at the Queen's Gallery in Buckingham Palace and publicly displayed there from 20 December 2005 to 11 June 2006. A BBC television special about its creation, The Queen, by Rolf, was broadcast on BBC One on 1 January 2006.Harris had been a popular entertainer and artist for several decades in Britain at the time the portrait was commissioned, and was the presenter of Rolf on Art, a series of television programmes on notable artists of the past. Harris subsequently said of the Queen that she was "an incredible lady and it was a real pleasure to paint her. The portrait I've created aims to capture the Queen's warm and friendly personality, rather than being a very formal portrait focusing more on her official status." Harris explained to The Daily Telegraph the following year: "I was as nervous as anything. I was in a panic".After he completed the portrait, his reputation as an artist (and the value of his works) increased. He was appointed a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2006. Then, in 2013, he was arrested as part of Operation Yewtree, a police investigation into child sexual abuse by media celebrities, and was convicted for indecent assault and imprisoned for five years and nine months in June 2014. His art work was largely withdrawn from sale, and the CBE was cancelled and annulled.
Operation Yewtree Queen's Gallery Buckingham Palace child sexual abuse Order of the British Empire The Daily Telegraph BBC Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire Rolf on Art BBC One