In 1985, the American Pop artist Andy Warhol embarked on his largest portfolio of screenprints. Titled Reigning Queens, Warhol chose to focus his creative attention on the four female monarchs who were ruling in the world at the time, having assumed their respective thrones through birth right alone rather than marriage. These four figures included Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and Queen Ntfombi Tfwala of Swaziland. Based on official or media photographs of these monarchs, the screenprint portfolio consists of four colour variants of each queen, amounting to sixteen images in total. The screenprints were created using a photographic silkscreen technique central to Warhol’s practice, employed profusely in both his prints and paintings. Warhol produced two editions of the Reigning Queens portfolio: forty ‘Standard Edition’ prints and thirty ‘Royal Edition’ prints. Screenprints from the ‘Royal Edition’ were adorned with ‘diamond dust’ - fine particles of ground up glass that sparkle in the light like diamonds – adding a glamour and extravagance to these images and further emphasising the regal allure of Warhol’s iconic subjects. The Reigning Queens series brings together many themes central to Warhol’s oeuvre, such as portraiture, celebrity, and consumerism.
Her Majesty Queen Ntfombi, The Queen Mother, Ndlovukati of Eswatini, is the current joint head of state of Eswatini, serving since 1986. She was also regent of Eswatini from 1983 to 1986, serving on behalf of her son, the current King Mswati III, until he turned eighteen years old. The Kingdom of Eswatini, formerly named Swaziland, is one of the smallest countries in Africa, and the last absolute monarchy on the continent. By tradition, the king reigns alongside his mother, the Ndlovukati, with the king viewed as the administrative head of state and the latter as a spiritual and national head of state, with real power counterbalancing that of the king. Queen Ntfombi’s image has been widely disseminated in the West due to her inclusion in Andy Warhol’s Reigning Queens portfolio. As the only non-European monarch depicted, her presence brings the alternative structure of Eswatini’s Royal Family into the spotlight. In the image appropriated by Warhol, Queen Ntfombi is depicted wearing a traditional headdress – most probably constructed from feathers – which indicates her royal status. Here depicted in vivid orange, with accents of yellow, red and bright blue lines, Warhol’s portrait of Queen Ntfombi vibrates with vitality.