Steve Swales, Madame Tussauds' principal sculptor, based the model on photographs he took for an earlier version in 2001. He described the experience as "extremely exciting" and "rather nerve-wracking."
"She was very relaxed and warm and I've tried to portray that, whilst maintaining a sense of majesty," Swales said. "Her expression is soft, as if she is just about to break into a smile."
The wax queen is surrounded by other wax royals. Her husband, Prince Philip, the duke of Edinburgh, is at her side, along with figures of Prince William and his wife, the duchess of Cambridge, which were unveiled in April, and Prince Charles and the duchess of Cornwall.
Marie Tussaud, an art tutor to the French royal family, learned how to make wax images doing death masks of aristocrats executed in the French Revolution. She moved to England in the early 19th century where she showed images of heroes and, in the Chamber of Horrors, notorious criminals.
Madame Tussauds has been at its current location in London since 1884.
