The tale of Two Queens

We mourn the loss of Queen Elizabeth. Her magnificent 70-year reign is over.

Just two days after her passing, we celebrate “Queen Victoria,” who turns 66 today. I only mention the two in the same paragraph because they’re connected … at the neck.

When Vicki turned 60, I planned a birthday party fit for a queen. I photoshoped her head on Queen Elizabeth’s body (see above). The photo I used was the same photo that ran on the front page of Friday’s Seattle Times (seen here below).

The black and white photo of Queen Elizabeth was taken in 1969. She would have been 53. The photo of Vicki was taken in 1979. She would have turned 23 that year. It was a rare black and white photograph I had of Vicki that was needed to match the black and white photo of Queen Elizabeth. I colored her eyes blue — which they are — and did a lot of the photoshop work. A former Seattle Times colleague of mine, however, helped me fine-tune it. Fitting QV’s head under QE’s tiarra was particularly challenging. He did a pretty good job.

Vicki’s head (she was always “a head” of the game) and Elizabeth’s body. At this point, I could say something snarky and it would be very complimentary to Vicki, but I’ll refrain.

God Rest Queen Elizabeth! God Bless Queen Victoria! Long live the Queen!