This work is accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity from Pest Control

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Auckland Purchased from Pictures on Walls, London, 9.43 pm, 21/9/2004 by current owner - Original purchase receipt available

Monkey Queen is a thought-provoking screen print made up of an edition of 600 unsigned prints and 150 signed prints. The image was first publicly displayed as a wall painting at The Chill Out Zone, a youth club on Broad Street in Newent, a market town north west of Gloucester.

Following complaints that the painting was disrespectful to the monarchy, the press labelled the event as Banksygate. The youth club was asked by the government not to display this image during the Queen's Golden Jubilee and its funding was cut. This raised issues regarding freedom of expression. Eventually Monkey Queen was replaced on the wall of the youth club with a Union Jack.

In 2012, the year of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, a far less controversial Banksy portrait of Queen Elizabeth II appeared on the streets of Bristol. A youthful Queen was portrayed wearing a diamond tiara, ermine and pearls, sporting Ziggy Stardust's iconic lightning bolt makeup.