Timothy Charles Plunket Whidborne (1927–2021) was a British artist notable for his 1969 portrait of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

on horseback as Colonel-in-Chief of the

Irish Guards The Irish Guards (IG) is one of the Foot guards#United Kingdom, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army and is part of the Guards Division. Together with the Royal Irish Regiment (1992), Royal Irish Regiment, it is one of the two Irish infant ...

, a regiment in which Whidborne had once been a member. Born in

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...

, Whidborne was educated at

Stowe School The Stowe School is a public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13–18 in the countryside of Stowe, England. It was opened on 11 May, 1923 at Stowe House, a Grade I Heritage Estate belonging to the British Crown. ...

, where he was a contemporary of

George Melly Alan George Heywood Melly (17 August 1926 – 5 July 2007) was an English jazz and blues singer, critic, writer, and lecturer. From 1965 to 1973, he was a film and television critic for ''The Observer''; he also lectured on art history, with an ...

. He served as a lieutenant in the Irish Guards and saw action in

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

. In

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

, he became a pupil of Pietro Annigoni. Whidborne exhibited at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

in 1954, and in 1966, '' The Connoisseur'' recognized him as a leading mural decorator in England. In 1983, he was among the artists selected to design alternative stamps for the British definitive series, Muir, Douglas. (2007). ''A Timeless Classic: The Evolution of Machin's Icon''. London: The British Postal Museum & Archive, pp. 209–215. but his design was not adopted, and the Machin series remained in use for the Queen's lifetime.

Selected publications

*''Pietro Annigoni: Il Periodo Inglese, 1949-1971''. Leonardo-De Luca, Rome, 1991. Edited by Luciano Pelizzari, contribution by Timothy Whidborne. *''Woolly the Mammoth''. Pheasantry Studios, London, 1993. *''Aspects of Deal''. Pheasantry Studios, London, 2002. *''Aspects of Ireland''. Pheasantry Studios, London, 2003. *''Aspects Abroad''. Pheasantry Studios, London, 2005. (new edition) *''Aspects Diverse''. Pheasantry Studios, London, 2008. *''A Cabinet of Curiosities''. Pheasantry Studios, London, 2008. *''Aspects of Love and Passion''. Pheasantry Studios, London, 2008. *''Aspects of Psychology''. Pheasantry Studios, London, 2010. *''Aspects of Art and Ancestry''. Grosvenor House, Tolworth, 2019. *''Images: Paintings and Drawings by Timothy Charles Plunket Whidborne''. Grosvenor House, Tolworth, 2020.

References

1927 births British artists British muralists People educated at Stowe School Irish Guards officers 2021 deaths People from High Wycombe Military personnel from Buckinghamshire 20th-century British Army personnel {{England-artist-stub