Standard version

Pop art screenprint of Queen Elizabeth II wearing a diamond tiara, pearls and a sash, her face in pale lilac on a deep purple background with coral and cream blocks of colour.
Andy Warhol, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, from the Reigning Queens series, 1985, screenprint (Royal Edition, with diamond dust). Royal Collection. © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. Royal Collection Trust page.
C1 · Première and Terminale généralesVersion dys

Portrait of a Queen: Elizabeth II, from The Crown to the canvas

The Aura of a Woman Like No Other

70 years on the throneQueen from 6 February 1952 to 8 September 2022: the longest reign in British history. Platinum Jubilee in 2022.
ContenuUne séquence sur le portrait d'Elizabeth II, à partir d'extraits de la série The Crown (Netflix) et de vrais portraits : de László, Annigoni, Freud, les portraits d'Elizabeth I et de Victoria, la couleur comme langage royal, l'arbre généalogique des Windsor et de l'Europe, la monarchie constitutionnelle et les biens de la Couronne, fiction et histoire.
PublicPremière et Terminale générales, niveau C1. Palier « Going further » vers C1+ et C2, pour les futurs étudiants en langues.
AxesArt et pouvoir ; Fictions et réalités ; Espace privé et espace public ; Identités et échanges. Prolongement LLCER : Arts et débats d'idées, Expression et construction de soi.
LangueTous les temps de l'anglais, du présent simple au futur antérieur ; passif à tous les temps ; discours indirect ; conditionnels 0 à 3 et mixtes ; modaux de déduction au présent et au passé ; wish / if only ; adverbes ; idiomes (dont les idiomes de couleur) et figures de style.
DéroulementNeuf séances de 55 minutes : rappel noté, le point du professeur, document, vocabulaire, grammaire de la reconnaissance à la production libre, figures de style, idiomes, tâche d'expression, ticket de sortie, Going further, Homework. Corrigés masqués. Version dys de chaque page.
ÉvaluationÉvaluations formatives à chaque séance ; tâche finale notée sur 20 ; évaluation sommative complète (compréhension écrite, expression écrite, oral), chacune sur 20.
Watch

The Crown (Netflix, created by Peter Morgan), official trailer. Watch on YouTube (Netflix channel).

While you watch

  1. What name does the new Queen choose to reign under, and how does she brush aside the question?
  2. Philip asks: "Are you my wife or my Queen?" What does she answer, and what does he refuse to do?
  3. Complete her line: "For better or worse, the crown has ______ ______ ______ ______."
Answers
  1. "My name is Elizabeth." She keeps her own name and says: "Let's not overcomplicate matters unnecessarily."
  2. "I am both." He refuses to kneel before her: "I will not kneel before my wife."
  3. "...has landed on my head." She knows she is surrounded by people who feel they could do the job better.

Sessions

Session 1. "Old bat?" Two profiles, one QueenHow can one face change, and what does a portrait reveal about the passing of time?Session 2. The girl who was not meant to reignHow did a little girl who was never supposed to be Queen end up on the throne?Session 3. Crowned on camera, 2 June 1953What was shown, and what was hidden, when the coronation was televised?Session 4. "If you see decay..." The painter and the sitterShould a portrait tell the truth, even when the truth hurts?Session 5. Aberfan, 21 October 1966: the face she did not showCould the Queen have reacted differently, and what does duty allow a sovereign to feel?Session 6. Portraits as power: from Gloriana to a Queen in colourHow have queens used images, and colour, to make power visible?Session 7. Annigoni 1955, Freud 2001: two painters, one QueenIs a royal portrait a likeness, a myth or a work of art?Session 8. "Sleep, Dearie Sleep": three actresses, one lifeHow do we tell the end of a life that was entirely public, and how do we separate fiction from history?Session 9. Final task: Portrait of the Queen at a given momentCan you paint a portrait in words, using every tense of English?

Resources and assessment

Family treesThe Windsors from George V to today, and the European connections.Monarchy and propertyHow the constitutional monarchy works; who owns what; myth or fact.Final taskPortrait of the Queen at a given moment, with its marking grid.Summative assessmentWritten comprehension, written expression, oral, each out of 20.

No film stills are reproduced: the series is studied through official Netflix videos on YouTube and short quotations. The Warhol print above is reproduced with its copyright notice; elsewhere only public-domain paintings are shown, and other copyrighted portraits and photographs are linked.