How Did They Do A Virtual Queen In That Jubilee Carriage?

June 6, 2022 by Dave Haynes

There was lots of buzz this weekend coming out of the UK about the Platinum Jubilee for Queen Elizabeth, with many public celebrations but only limited glimpses of the monarch, who is understandably having mobility issues at 96 years.

One of the workarounds for her inability to appear in an ornate carriage during a parade Sunday was to create a virtual Queen in the carriage to wave at the gathered crowds along the route.

As the 260-year-old gold carriage rolled by, onlookers saw vintage, looping video of a much younger monarch smiling and waving.

Just about all the mainstream media covering the event called the visual a hologram, but it was very likely some version of as projection on a film, the image coming from a light source inside the carriage. There’s also a small chance the visual trick involved a transparent OLED.

I looked for  technical explanation online, but came up with nothing but stories saying this was a hologram. But holograms have volume and depth and are still largely R&D projects. Anyone truly know what was done here?

Speaking of Royal projections, this was pretty neat …

Leave a comment