As the Queen left the National Gallery, smiling happily at the crowd gathered on the upper gallery, she came face to face with that portrait.

The smile faded, to be replaced with an expression of bemused wonderment as she stared fixedly at the image before her. She even turned round on the staircase for another lingering look as she passed by.

She may just as well have asked out loud: "Is that really supposed to be me?'' The look said it all.

It was not the result Corporation officials had hoped for weeks ago. Then, with agreement the portrait was not a flattering one, a plan was hatched to remove it for the Queen's visit.

It was to be done on the sly so as not to offend the generosity of Mr. W.F.

(Chummy) Hayward, who commissioned the portrait and then donated it to the City in 1987.

But a January 28 Royal Gazette story exposed the plan. That day City officials killed it, complaining to the newspaper the story had spoiled everything.

* * * YESTERDAY morning's tree-planting ceremony at Government House was the first face-to-face meeting between an unlikely pair of pen pals -- Bermuda's Mr.

Tommy Outerbridge and England's Queen Elizabeth.

It seems Mr. Outerbridge was invited to the ceremony because of correspondence he began with the Queen shortly after the 40th anniversary celebrations of her reign.

Mr. Outerbridge said he decided to write to the Queen after seeing the 1992 BBC documentary "Elizabeth'' in which she was seen answering letters from everyday people.

Mr. Outerbridge's first letter introduced himself as a Bermudian whose roots could be traced to the early 1600s. He also recalled meeting the Duke of Edinburgh while in a spinal rehabilitation hospital in England.

A letter came back, but it was obviously not from the Queen herself.

Mr. Outerbridge wrote again, asking Her Majesty to save Catchment Hill from development by buying it for a national park.

The Queen responded saying that was a matter for Bermuda's Parliamentarians, which prompted Mr. Outerbridge to write that most of Bermuda's MPs were developers.

There have been other letters, and some Bermuda books Mr. Outerbridge has sent to the Queen as gifts.

But the most prized missive in Mr. Outerbridge's collection is the 1992 letter from the Queen congratulating him on the birth of his son.

After yesterday's tree planting, Mr. Outerbridge said: "The Queen, well she was, how do I say, just charming. She has a presence about her.

"Even my wife, who's anti-Royalist, was chuffed.'' * * * WHILE diners were chewing their way through beef and veal tenderloin during the Speaker's Dinner on Tuesday night, a battle royal was being waged backstage.

Amid the clatter and bang of plates, silverware and cutlery, dozens of waiters, their faces dripping with sweat, struggled to keep the evening running smoothly.

Their efforts weren't helped by a motley crew of journalists and Police Press officers waiting outside the steaming kitchens to hear the speeches.

The occasional collision was inevitable.

And so was the chance overheard remark from one waiter to another: "This has been an absolute disaster.

"There has been no co-ordination whatsoever tonight. This has been the worst Queen's banquet by far.'' * * * IT was probably the toughest ticket in town -- dining with the Queen at the Speaker's Dinner on Tuesday night.

And for the lucky 500 to be invited, the formal dress code left many women scrambling to find the appropriate gown.

A letter sent to invitees by the Dinner's organisers early last week, answered many queries by saying that "the dress for the dinner should be calf length or longer''.

While some women went so far as to travel to New York for a dress, those with smaller travel allowances found themselves scouring local stores.

Yesterday, store owners said the demand virtually cleaned them out.

Manager of Triangles Ltd.

, Mrs. Judy Baum, said business was great.

"We purchased 12 dresses from New York which all went except for one, and other items that were already in the store were sold,'' she said.

"In all, we sold about 18 to 20 items. It was great. If the dress worked, they bought it.

A Cecile's saleswoman said they did not sell the same dress to another person going to the dinner at the Southampton Princess.

"Some were long and others were opera length,'' she said. "There were no new purchases. We sold what we had in stock.

Mrs. Sharon Vesey buyer of ladies fashions at Smith's said the store sold only a few dresses.

"We did not realise the Queen's itinerary until too late so people started to get a little desperate trying to find something to wear,'' she said.