In 1985, Andy Warhol embarked on his largest portfolio of screen-prints. Titled Reigning Queens, Warhol chose to focus his creative attention on the four female monarchs who were ruling in the world at the time, having assumed their respective thrones through birth right alone rather than marriage. These four figures included Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and Queen Ntombi Twala of Swaziland. Based on official or media photographs of these monarchs, the screen-print portfolio consists of four color variants of each queen, amounting to sixteen images in total. The screen-prints were created using a photographic silkscreen technique central to Warhol’s practice, employed profusely in both his prints and paintings.

Warhol produced two editions of the Reigning Queens portfolio: forty ‘Standard Edition’ prints and thirty ‘Royal Edition’ prints. Screen-prints from the ‘Royal Edition’ were adorned with ‘diamond dust’ – fine particles of ground up glass that sparkle in the light like diamonds – adding a glamor and extravagance to these images and further emphasizing the regal allure of Warhol’s iconic subjects. The Reigning Queens series brings together many themes central to Warhol’s oeuvre, such as portraiture, celebrity, and consumerism.

Queen Ntombi Twala of Swaziland
From Reigning Queens

Portfolio of 4 screenprints in colors
Medium: Screenprint in colors on Lenox Museum Board
Year: 1985
Sheet: 39 3/8 x 31 1/2 inches (100×80 cm)
Edition: 40
Artist’s Proofs: 10 AP
Printer’s Proofs: 5 PP
Hors Commerce: 3 HC
Trial Proofs: 30 TP containing only one image of each Queen
Printer: Rupert Jasen Smith New-York
Publisher: George C.P. Mulder, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Literature: Feldman & Shellmann II.346-349

Queen Ntombi Twala of Swaziland
From Reigning Queens (Royal Edition)

Portfolio of 4 screen-prints in colors on Lenox Museum Board with diamond dust
Edition: 30
Artist’s Proofs: 5 AP
Literature: Feldman & Shellmann II.346A-349A

1. Queen Ntombi Twala of Swaziland (F&S II.346)

2. Queen Ntombi Twala of Swaziland (F&S II.347)

3. Queen Ntombi Twala of Swaziland (F&S II.348)

4. Queen Ntombi Twala of Swaziland (F&S II.349)

Her Majesty Queen Ntombi, The Queen Mother, Ndlovukati of Eswatini, is the current joint head of state of Eswatini, serving since 1986. She was also regent of Eswatini from 1983 to 1986, serving on behalf of her son, the current King Mswati III, until he turned eighteen years old. The Kingdom of Eswatini, formerly named Swaziland, is one of the smallest countries in Africa, and the last absolute monarchy on the continent. By tradition, the king reigns alongside his mother, the Ndlovukati, with the king viewed as the administrative head of state and the latter as a spiritual and national head of state, with real power counterbalancing that of the king. Queen Ntombi’s image has been widely disseminated in the West due to her inclusion in Andy Warhol’s Reigning Queens portfolio. As the only non-European monarch depicted, her presence brings the alternative structure of Eswatini’s Royal Family into the spotlight. In the image appropriated by Warhol, Queen Ntombi is depicted wearing a traditional headdress – most probably constructed from feathers – which indicates her royal status.

Auction Results

1. Regular Editions

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Sotheby’s online: 26 March 2025
Estimated: GBP 8,000 – 12,000
GBP 11,430 / USD 14,745

ANDY WARHOL (1928 – 1987)
Queen Ntombi Twala of Swaziland, from Reigning Queens (Feldman & Schellmann II.348), 1985
Screenprint in colors on Lenox Museum Board
Signed in pencil and numbered 13/40

Sotheby’s online: 25 September 2024
Estimated: GBP 8,000 – 12,000
GBP 14,400 / USD 19,166

ANDY WARHOL (1928 – 1987)
Queen Ntombi Twala of Swaziland (Feldman & Schellmann II.347), from Reigning Queens, 1985
Screenprint in colors on Lenox Museum Board
Sheet: 39 3/8 x 31 1/2 inches (99.8 x 80 cm)
Signed in pencil and numbered 7/40 (the 7 partially retraced)
This impression is number 7 from the edition of 40 plus 10 artist’s proofs

Bonhams New-York: 23 May 2024
Estimated: USD 10,000 – 15,000
USD 14,080

ANDY WARHOL (1928-1987)

Queen Ntombi Twala, from Reigning Queens (Feldman & Schellmann IIB.346), 1985
Screenprint in colors on Lenox Museum Board
A unique proof aside from the signed and numbered edition of 40

Christie’s online: 27 March 2024
Estimated: GBP 10,000 – 15,000
GBP 11,970 / USD 15,119

ANDY WARHOL (1928-1987)
Queen Ntombi Twala, from: Reigning Queens, 1985
Screenprint in colors on Lenox Museum Board
Signed in pencil, numbered 31/40 (there were also ten artist’s proofs)

Venduehuis The Hague: 19 October 2023
Estimated: EUR 8,000 – 12,000
EUR 8,000 (Hammer)
EUR 10,400 / USD 10,960

ANDY WARHOL (1928 – 1987)
Queen Ntombi Twala, 1985
Screen-print on Lenox Museum Board
With the artist’s copyright and the Andy Warhol Art Authentication Board, Inc.’s inkstamps verso Numbered 111.089
Printed in a unique combination of colors, this work is a proof aside from the edition of 40

Sotheby’s New-York: 2 May 2014
Estimated: USD 10,000 – 15,000
USD 12,500

ANDY WARHOL
Queen Ntombi Twala (F. & S. IIB. 346), from the Reigning Queens series, 1985
Screenprint in colors on Lenox Museum Board
Signed in pencil and inscribed ‘TP 1/30’
A trial proof aside from the numbered edition of 40

4. Complete Sets

Sotheby’s London: 29 September 2015
Estimated: GBP 12,000 – 18,000
GBP 21,875

ANDY WARHOL
Reigning Queens (Royal Edition): Queen Ntombi Twala of Swaziland (F. & S. II.346A-349A), 1985
The complete set, comprising four screenprints in colors with diamond dust on Lenox Museum Board
Each signed in pencil, numbered ‘R 10/30’ (total edition includes 5 artist’s proofs)