Royal city resident pays tribute to the late queen in window art

A modest tribute to the late queen of England can be found in Downtown Guelph.

Outside of the old post office at 88 Wyndham St. N. is window art featuring Queen Elizabeth II. The art depicts the queen in white waving alongside a corgi, which Queen Elizabeth was known to be fond of corgis. 

Dorothy Amey, the artist behind the tribute, said she got up at quarter to four this morning to watch the funeral.

"It was amazing, I was glued to it," said Amey about the funeral. "It was incredible and it may make people more interested in the monarchy."

Amey, whose mother was from England and father was from North Ireland, said the royal family is important to them. She recalls seeing Princess Anne when she came to visit Guelph.

"My British ties are special to me," said Amey, noting she only visited England, Scotland and Ireland for one week 10 years ago. "I'm retired now, but I pick and choose to volunteer what I feel in my heart I can do."

The idea for the tribute came to Amey last week when signing the book of condolences at city hall. After getting approval to do the mural at the old post office, Amey said it took her six hours to create the mural of the queen and 10 minutes to paint the corgi.

"That made my day," said Amey about getting approval from the post office. 

For reference, Amey went with a photo of Queen Elizabeth taken by photographer, Tim Graham. She said she wanted a white image over a purple or colourful image to depict the queen in heaven.

"I felt really proud," said Amey about her work. "We took a chance and I did it and thought, 'Maybe a little corgi dog with it would be cute.'"

While completing the mural, Amey said there was no negativity from people who did stop to speak with her. Amey also created an image of the queen and paddington bear, which sit on her fence at her house along Grange Road.