--- title: Queen Elizabeth Confused by Painting of Father and Horse in Berlin description: Queen Elizabeth did not recognize her father in painting presented to her in Berlin by Joachim Gauck canonical: https://time.com/3934634/queen-elizabeth-painting-father-berlin/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-24T21:19:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:47:21.077Z og:title: The Queen Is Confused by This Painting of Her and Her Father og:description: German President Joachim Gauck presented it to her at his official residence. og:url: https://time.com/3934634/queen-elizabeth-painting-father-berlin/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0fc26ed9ccbaf9a5/6988583f0a4a223f779c4e10/queen-painting-berlin-philip.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: queen-painting-berlin-philip og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Queen Is Confused by This Painting of Her and Her Father twitter:description: German President Joachim Gauck presented it to her at his official residence. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0fc26ed9ccbaf9a5/6988583f0a4a223f779c4e10/queen-painting-berlin-philip.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Queen Is Confused by This Painting of Her and Her Father > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Jun 24, 2015 9:19 PM UTC  Britain's Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip look at a painting presented to her during a visit to Germany's President's official residence, in Berlin, Germany, June 24, 2015. Britain's Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip look at a painting presented to her during a visit to Germany's President's official residence, in Berlin, Germany, June 24, 2015. Arthur Edwards—Reuters  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Jun 24, 2015 9:19 PM UTC On Wednesday, Queen Elizabeth II appeared to be puzzled by an oil painting that German President Joachim Gauck presented to her at his official residence. It showed her as a young girl riding a blue horse as her father George VI led the way. First, she reportedly remarked that blue was an unusual color choice for the horse. And video captured by [Sky News](http://news.sky.com/story/1507531/queen-baffled-by-germanys-portrait-gift) and [_ITV News_](http://www.itv.com/news/2015-06-24/thats-my-father-queen-unconvinced-by-germanys-portrait-gift/) shows the Queen asking, “Is that supposed to be my father?” When her husband Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, laughed and asked, “Don’t you recognize him?”, Her Majesty simply said, “No.” ### LIFE With Elizabeth II: Rare and Classic Photos of the Queen  Princess Margaret (left), the future Queen Elizabeth II (third from left) and the Queen Mother (third from right) with the Grenadier guards on the occasion of Princess Elizabeth's birthday, 1942. David E. Scherman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Queen Elizabeth II ("a little fagged after four days of royal touring," as LIFE put it in its Dec. 7, 1953, issue) prepares to speak at University of the West Indies, Jamaica, 1953. Cornell Capa—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Queen Elizabeth II watches a University of Maryland vs. University of North Carolina football game at Maryland's Byrd Stadium during her 1957 official visit to the United States. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Queen Elizabeth with Prince Charles and Elizabeth II at Princess Margaret's wedding, 1960. Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Queen Elizabeth II speaking at a State Dinner in Ghana, 1961. Paul Schutzer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Queen Elizabeth II shakes hands with a well-wisher while standing next to the General and Governor of Bermuda, Sir Alexander Hood, 1961. Lisa Larsen—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Queen Elizabeth II upon her arrival in India in 1961, the first British monarch to visit since George V in 1911. Hank Walker—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Queen Elizabeth II during a visit to Sudan, 1964. John Loengard—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Queen Elizabeth II in Ethiopia, 1965. John Loengard—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Queen Elizabeth II in Ethiopia, 1965. John Loengard—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Queen Elizabeth II in Ethiopia, 1965. John Loengard—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Queen Elizabeth II (right) and Prince Philip on a tour of Trinidad and Tobago, 1966. Michael Rougier—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Queen Elizabeth II during her 1966 tour of the Caribbean. 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