Queen Elizabeth II A Photographic Portrait

Phillip Ziegler, Emma Blau

A collection of the finest photographs of the life of Queen Elizabeth II, from her first official photograph as a baby in 1926 to her Platinum Jubilee in 2022.

Queen Elizabeth II was a remarkable figure on the global stage for well over half a century. Hundreds of thousands of visitors to Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle each year are attracted by an image of this exceptional monarch that has been shaped, in significant part, by the work of royal photographers, many of whom are internationally distinguished practitioners of their art.

Drawing on an unparalleled collection of official portraits of the queen, each of the book’s chapters begins with a text by best-selling historian and biographer Philip Ziegler, covering the key royal and historical events of the period, with some contextual photographs, followed by a sequence of plates in chronological order. With over two hundred images of the queen by photographers such as Cecil Beaton, Lord Snowdon, and Rankin, the queen is captured in a variety of poses, from formal photographs as a working monarch to intimate portraits relaxing with her family at Balmoral and Windsor. All the images have been officially approved by the palace, making this the ultimate illustrated book chronicling the life of England’s longest-reigning monarch.

Reviews

Gathers more than 100 sumptuous studies of the late British monarch.

— Vogue

Contributors

Phillip Ziegler

Author

Philip Ziegler is the best-selling author of Mountbatten: The Official Biography, King Edward VIII: The Official Biography, Diana Cooper: The Biography of Lady Diana Cooper, and London at War, 1939-1945.

Emma Blau

Foreword By

Emma Blau FRSA is an award-winning photographic artist, curator, and commentator. She is coowner of Camera Press, the photo agency founded by her grandfather that hosts the work of royal photographers from throughout the queen's life. She directed and produced the documentary Camera Press at 70: A Lifetime in Pictures. Her photography is held in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London, and the Parliamentary Art Collection, U.K.