He produced the laser show for Kate Moss’s 40th birthday party, conjured up an ‘immersive, multi-sensory’ exhibition for the Prince and Princess of Wales’s friend and neighbour, the Marquess of Cholmondeley, at Houghton Hall in Norfolk, and created what the National Portrait Gallery has called ‘the most evocative image of a royal by any artist’ with a holographic portrayal of Queen Elizabeth.
But has Chris Levine now forfeited his chance to repeat his magic on King Charles?
I ask because the innovative Levine – whose celebrated image of the late Queen captured her, uniquely, with her eyes closed – is now the subject of legal action initiated by the very charity which commissioned the portrait in 2003.
There is plenty at stake. The Jersey Heritage Trust, which asked Levine to create a portrait of the Queen to celebrate the island’s 800 years of allegiance to the Crown, calculates that, since November 2017, Levine has sold or ‘otherwise exploited’ 223 copies of the ‘eyes closed’ image, entitled Lightness of Being.
The Jersey Heritage Trust, which asked artist Chris Levine to create a portrait of the Queen to celebrate the island’s 800 years of allegiance to the Crown, claims he has sold or ‘otherwise exploited’ 223 copies of the ‘eyes closed’ image, entitled Lightness of Being (pictured)
Levine (pictured in 2012) has issued a counterclaim, asserting that the trust funded only the first sitting with the Queen in 2003, whereas he funded the second, in 2004, from which virtually all the published works derive – including Lightness of Being
In the process, claims the trust, he generated sales worth ‘at least £3million’.
But that’s not all. The trust additionally calculates that, in the same period, Levine has sold at least 66 copies of the first portrait he created – a more conventional one, entitled Equanimity, in which Her Majesty’s eyes were open – thereby generating sales of at least £585,000.
It argues that, under the terms of a settlement reached in 2015, Levine agreed to pay it a royalty of 20 per cent on all net income derived from the two portraits.
Claiming that the portraits generated more than £3.7million – and more than £1.2million in 2022 alone – it argues that Levine owed at least £650,000 by November 2022.
Disputing that the sum was due in full by that date, Levine has issued a counterclaim, asserting that the trust funded only the first sitting with the Queen in 2003, whereas he funded the second, in 2004, at a cost of £50,000.
That is the sitting, he claims, ‘from which virtually all the published works derive’ – including, most famously, Lightness of Being.
The trust declines to comment. It had reportedly commissioned Levine to produce a portrait of the King.
Levine says: ‘I was commissioned to make art and I successfully delivered the work in 2004. I was not commissioned to create Lightness of Being or anything else, only the Equanimity that hangs in Mont Orgeuil Castle. I’m pleased a mediation date has been set and hope that there’s a fair deal on the table for all parties.’
He adds: ‘This has been going on for years and I hope we can soon move on. It will always be a huge honour to have created this historic work with the late monarch, for whom I felt a lot of affection.’
Bruno is the cha-cha-ching king
He may have left the ballroom behind but, when it comes to making money, former Strictly judge Bruno Tonioli is still a champion.
The Italian has reported a £500,000 profit at Fulvia, the company into which he channels his TV earnings.
New accounts filed at Companies House report £3.9 million in shareholder’s funds held by him.
Tonioli set up his company in 2010 and its latest figures include his first year on the judge’s panel at Britain’s Got Talent.
He may have left the ballroom behind but, when it comes to making money, former Strictly judge Bruno Tonioli (pictured) is still a champion
Keira reveals daughter has dyslexia like her
Keira Knightley, who has struggled with dyslexia since the age of six, has revealed that her daughter has also been diagnosed with the condition, which causes difficulties with reading, writing and spelling.
Talking about how she memorises her lines, the actress, 39, says: ‘I still find sight-reading really hard.
‘It really bounces [the text] but basically I record it and listen to it, and listen to it, and that’s how I learn it.
‘But now we have a dyslexic kid and she’s doing the same thing, and her memory is absolutely amazing.’
Keira has two daughters – Edie, eight, and Delilah, four – with her husband, former Klaxons singer James Righton, 40.
Speaking on Ruthie’s Table 4 podcast, Righton says of their girl: ‘She’ll look at books and would have memorised the book and it’s amazing.’
Keira Knightley, who has struggled with dyslexia since the age of six, has revealed that her daughter has also been diagnosed with the condition
Serious times for comedy
Hollywood movie director Paul Feig, whose hits include Bridesmaids and The Heat, says changing tastes in comedy are no laughing matter.
‘Audiences have gotten very sensitive,’ he tells me at a screening of his new film, Jackpot!, at the Ham Yard Hotel in London’s Soho.
‘You have to be very careful if you go too far.
‘If you look at the comedy of the 1990s, it was very broad and over the top in a very funny way.’
The online history of Meghan’s friend
The campaign by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex against online bullying has raised eyebrows in California, I hear.
That’s because Meghan has made a point of affirming her friendship with the model Chrissy Teigen, who was forced to apologise after sending a string of abusive messages online to a teenager.
Teigen, 38, who’s married to singer John Legend, told the youngster, ‘I hate you’ and, in another message, said, ‘I can’t wait for you to die.’
She didn’t apologise until a decade later, after the messages had been made public, resulting in numerous brands, including Bloomingdale’s luxury department store chain, dropping her.
Apparently, this wasn’t a big issue for Meghan, who sent Teigen a jar of her American Riviera Orchard jam earlier this year.
Online bullying campaigner Meghan Markle has made a point of affirming her friendship with the model Chrissy Teigen (pictured) – even though she was accused of bullying a teenager online
The campaign by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex against online bullying has apparently raised eyebrows in California
King Charles has found his new harpist — behind the bar
‘It is an honour to be appointed as Harpist to His Majesty The King,’ says Mared Emyr Pugh-Evans, who worked as part of the restaurant and bar team at the Wigmore Hall, a West London concert hall.
‘It’s a responsibility I have not taken lightly, but one I’m committed to fulfilling wholeheartedly and I’m hoping to put my own personal stamp on the role.’
Air on a G&T string?
Was Dad’s Army star not such a stupid boy at end?
Regularly addressed as ‘You stupid boy!’ by Arthur Lowe’s Captain Mainwaring on Dad’s Army, Ian Lavender may have been rather clever when it came to his finances.
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The actor, who died aged 77 in February, left an estate of just £164,803.
‘The relatively low figure is likely to be thanks to sensible planning,’ a source tells me.
Not quite doomed: Lavender, who played hapless Private Frank Pike in the BBC sitcom, left his entire estate to his wife, Michele
Lavender, who played hapless Private Frank Pike in the BBC sitcom, left his entire estate to his wife, Michele.
Lavender’s co-star Frank Williams, who played the vicar, said in 2017: ‘Constant repeats mean it’s become a good pension.
‘We negotiated a good deal with the BBC, so I’m earning a great deal more on repeats than the original fees.’
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