Margaret Thatcher ('Maggie Regina')
Photo: © National Portrait Gallery, London
Margaret Thatcher ('Maggie Regina')
by Peter Kennard, published by Leeds Postcards
colour offset lithograph postcard, circa 1983
5 7/8 in. x 4 1/8 in. (148 mm x 105 mm) overall
Given by Jeremy Cooper, 2019
Reference Collection
NPG D48902
Sitterback to top
- Margaret Hilda Thatcher (née Roberts), Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven (1925-2013), Prime Minister. Sitter in 54 portraits.
Artistsback to top
- Peter Kennard (1949-), Photographer. Artist or producer associated with 3 portraits.
- Leeds Postcards. Artist or producer associated with 4 portraits.
This portraitback to top
Enriching the Gallery’s collection of historical political satire, Maggie Regina was originally made for the cover of New Statesman and also appeared in Time magazine, in a feature on Thatcher's Britain. It satirises Thatcher’s ‘Victorian values’ by pasting her face onto an image of Queen Victoria. Kennard’s artwork is based on a photograph by Alexander Bassano issued in 1897 in celebration of Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, also in the Gallery’s collection. The original artwork for this postcard is in the Tate collection.
Related worksback to top
- NPG x152518: Queen Victoria (source portrait)
- NPG x127989: Queen Victoria (source portrait)
Subjects & Themesback to top
Events of 1983back to top
Current affairs
Margaret Thatcher wins a landslide majority for the Conservative Party at the general election. Although her premiership had previously been unpopular, the British victory in the Falklands coupled with divisions in Michael Foot's Labour opposition, helped her to gain popularity and win the most decisive election victory since 1945.Art and science
The British sitcom Blackadder is aired for the first time. Each of the four series followed the character of the anti-hero Edmund Blackadder and took place during a different period of British history. The first series, The Black Adder, was a satire of medieval England during the rein of the fictitious Richard IV, and frequently lifted famous lines from Shakespeare.International
The armed struggle between Tamil militants and the Sinhalese-dominated government of Sri Lanka begin with the Black July pogrom. Mobs (allegedly supported by the government) started attacking and murdering Tamils following an attack by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on government soldiers. Civil war between the government and Tamil nationalists has continued sporadically ever since.Comments back to top
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