Queen Elizabeth II's waxwork model left bald under her hat to save money

German wax museum Panoptikum proudly showed off its wax statue of Queen Elizabeth II this week, but revealed that they have kept the figurine partly bald.

The wax model of the 95-year-old is shown in her signature buttoned-down dress in pink, complete with a hat in a complementing colour. The statue is also wearing gloves, a brooch, and the monarch's signature pearls.

As the museum discussed the figure with the press, they revealed that they have kept the scalp under its hat bald because of the cost of hair. Dr Susanne Faerber, managing partner of the Panoptikum in Hamburg, lifted the headwear off the replica of the Queen during a photocall and combed the hair that protrudes from beneath it.

Faerber told the Daily Mail about their decision to keep the statue bald, "As we are using real human hair for our waxworks which is very expensive, some figures which have hats don't have complete hair. We just install the amount of hair which is visible for the visitors."

The museum, which recently opened up for the public after being closed in January for annual renovation work, contains more than 120 wax figures. It also carries statues of former United States President Donald Trump, Pope Benedict XVI, climate activist Greta Thunberg, and former German Chancellor Angela Merkel among others.

During the annual renovation works, the figures are thoroughly cleaned, the hair gets washed separately, and the clothes are taken to dry cleaning shops. Photographs of the British monarch's figure being vacuumed when the rest of the hair was also removed and she was completely bald were shared on the museum's Facebook page in a "look behind the scenes" post.

Asked if displaying the Queen figure's bald head can be seen as disrespectful, Faerber said, "It is a waxwork, not the real person, this should always be kept in mind."

"Besides, the position of Her Majesty is in Germany different than the handling of the royal family in Great Britain, where the press have to be more sensitive dealing with them," she added.