The aim of this paper is to analyze painted portraits of outstanding queens of Britain in order to gain an insight into the function each portrait fulfilled in its socio-cultural and historical context. Every aspect of each painting that provides a deeper understanding of its role and purpose will be studied, namely objects, symbols, references to the context or to other artistic fields, colours, posture, clothing, etc. Besides, the relationship between the artist and the sitter is exposed in the images portrayed, at times mirroring the relationship between the monarch and the vassals, and at times complying with the desires of the sitter.
‘Regis imago Rex est’: the image of the monarch is the monarch; the image of the monarch in a portrait is usually the way the monarch is going to be remembered and identified by the others. So the question is… what did these queens want us to see, or rather, what did these portraitists intend to convey?