Queen's new portrait features Prince Charles as guest star

Associated Press

London | Mon, December 19, 2016 | 11:30 am

Queen's new portrait features Prince Charles as guest star

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II meets well wishers during a walkabout to celebrate her 90th birthday in Windsor, England, Thursday. The queen was born Princess Elizabeth on April 21, 1926, and became queen at 25 upon the death of her father, King George VI, in 1952. A majority of Britons have lived under no other monarch. (AP/Alastair Grant)

One is not amused. But the other one is.

Queen Elizabeth II's photographic portrait unveiled Sunday features a determined look ahead and perhaps the faintest whisper of a Mona Lisa smile.

The heir to her throne, Prince Charles, stands beside his seated mother, one hand propped in the pocket of his black dinner jacket, the other behind her back. Charles' downward gaze of smiling affection competes for attention with the queen's serious, forward focus.

This photograph taken by Nick Knight is a portrait of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles, taken in the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle, England in May 2016, prior to the final night of The Queen's 90th Birthday Celebrations at the Royal Windsor Horse Pageant, to mark the end of the year of celebrations for The Queen's 90th birthday.(©2016 Nick Knight via AP/Nick Knight )

Fashion photographer Nick Knight shot the image in May inside Windsor Castle before evening celebrations at the Royal Windsor Horse Show. The queen wore a sea green and dove gray brocade dress by Angela Kelly.

Knight said he sought "to create a modern portrait that showed warmth and humanity as well as strength and tradition."