Between celebrating her Jubilee, making her acting debut and receiving news of her first great grandchild, 2012 has been a rather splendid year for the Queen.
And as it draws to a close we discover that it's been a rather good year for her majesty's art collection too: she was given a collection of 97 original works by members of the Royal Academy, including David Hockney, Anish Kapoor, Grayson Perry and Travey Emin.
The Jubliee goodie bag is worth a fortune but rather than hang them in her bedroom in Buckingham palace or make a killing on eBay, the Queen has decided to donate them to the Royal Collection on behalf of the nation. The works will be displayed at the Queen's Gallery at Buckingham palace next autumn.
The donated pieces include:
- An iPad creation by Hockney celebrating the Jubilee year
- An untitled painting of a flaming red ball by Anish Kapoor
- A sketch of a Kenilworth AM1 motorbike by Grayson Perry
- A monoprint portrait of the Queen by Emin
- A drawing of Westminster Abbey by John Maine
- A painting called 'Sixteen Appearances of the Union Jack' by sculptor Tom Phillips
- A drawing and photograph of The Queen's Suite at Heathrow Airport, by architect Michael Manser, which he designed in 1988.
- A landscape by President of the Royal Academy of Arts Christopher Le Brun called 'The Complete Journey'
The Queen, who is a Patron of the Royal Academy, was herself the subject of a major exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery earlier in the year called 'The Queen: Art & Image'.