THE Queen is going to sit for Rolf Harris for a portrait to celebrate her 80th birthday.

The BBC approached Buckingham Palace with the idea for a BBC1 Rolf on Art special.

They were told that the Queen would be delighted to sit for the former Animal Hospital presenter.

The sitting will be filmed for broadcast in the programme, either later this year or early next.

The Queen, who turns 80 next year, is more used to established figures, such as Lucian Freud, painting her portrait.

But her decision could reveal something about her taste in art.

Harris said yesterday that he would be aiming for an "impressionistic" rather than a "photographic" representation.

The entertainer and artist said he was thrilled about being given the go-ahead for the painting, which will be completed in oils.

He said he was hoping to create "a painting that is representational of the way the Queen looks and her obvious charm and friendly quality, rather than the very formal".

Harris, who has been awarded the MBE and OBE, said: "I want to get the real person rather than the state image, and I'd like to make my painting more impressionistic than photographic.

"My hero painting of the Queen was one done by William Dargie in 1954, and I just hope I can do one as charming and representative of the lady as that.

"I am overwhelmed, and hope I don't get stage fright and panic."