Here too are works of courtly obsequiousness: Charles-Antoine Coypel's "France Thanking Heaven for the Recovery of Louis XV" and Michel Corneille the Younger's "Aspasia Among the Philosophers of Greece," both made in preparation for paintings that would grace the queen's chamber at Versailles.
That's what's missing today, and by the grace of king and queen, it's something only the Brits seemed to get perfectly right.
While acting for the island, she is officially known as "Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, Queen of Barbados and of Her other Realms and territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth".
Instead, the proclamation was changed to "Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God Queen of this Realm and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth," reflecting Elizabeth II's passion for the Commonwealth and its status as the post-imperial club.
Sir Walter Scott wrote of the area in his epic poem Rokeby: "O Brignall banks are wild and fair / And Greta's woods are green / And you may gather garlands there, / Would grace a summer queen".
After the union, her style was "Anne, by the Grace of God, Queen of Great Britain, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, etc".
The nominees: Nicole Kidman, "Grace of Monaco"; Queen Latifah, "Bessie"; Christina Ricci, "The Lizzie Borden Chronicles"; Susan Sarandon, "The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe Kristen Wiigig, "The Spoils Before Dying".
When Mary ascended the throne, she was proclaimed under the same official style as Henry VIII and Edward VI: "Mary, by the Grace of God, Queen of England, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, and of the Church of England and of Ireland on Earth Supreme Head".
This style, which had been in use since 1554, was replaced when Philip inherited the Spanish Crown in 1556 with "Philip and Mary, by the Grace of God King and Queen of England, Spain, France, both the Sicilies, Jerusalem and Ireland, Defenders of the Faith, Archdukes of Austria, Dukes of Burgundy, Milan and Brabant, Counts of Habsburg, Flanders and Tyrol".
Under Mary's marriage treaty with Philip, the official joint style reflected not only Mary's but also Philip's dominions and claims: "Philip and Mary, by the grace of God, King and Queen of England, France, Naples, Jerusalem, and Ireland, Defenders of the Faith, Princes of Spain and Sicily, Archdukes of Austria, Dukes of Milan, Burgundy and Brabant, Counts of Habsburg, Flanders and Tyrol".
