‘Her one proviso was that the thistle robes must not get wet’
Julian Calder
I got in touch with the Palace and asked: “Could I photograph Her Majesty?” The message came back: “Too busy to do it in Edinburgh, but happy to do something in Balmoral.” It was for a book project, Keepers: The Ancient Offices of Britain. The idea I had in mind was to take a picture of a figure in the landscape, which is one of the great themes of photography. One of Her Majesty’s titles is the Chief of the Chiefs, so that was what we were going to depict. I had been influenced by a set of Henry Raeburn portraits of Clan chiefs.
We went up to Balmoral the day before to do a recce. We chose this position in an area of the estate near where the Queen had barbecues, with Prince Philip as chef, when prime ministers came to stay at Balmoral. On the morning of the shoot, the rain had stopped mercifully. I was with the Queen’s dresser, Angela Kelly, who was changing the diamonds of the Vladimir tiara for emeralds. A message came though that the Queen would like to see me. “Why should I do this?” she asked. I said: “Ma’am, it’s an idea after the Raeburn portraits of Clan chiefs.” And she said: “Right, we’ll do it.” Her one proviso was that the thistle robes must not get wet. We went back to the location and had to do a bit of gardening and choose exactly where she would stand so there’d be no faffing around. Her Majesty was already dressed. The clouds looked quite ominous but the rain held off. There were no midges.
The shoot lasted two hours. She was charming and very patient. Near the end of the shoot, with Her Majesty smiling and looking at me, the book’s author, Alistair Bruce, said, “Ma’am, the clans are gathering on the hillside,” so she looked over her shoulder. That was the shot.
I’ve photographed people who have egos and issues. With Her Majesty, it was never a problem. She was willing to do what was required to make the picture work. And as a result of that portrait, I had the honour to do the diamond jubilee official portrait of Her Majesty and Prince Philip.
I’m very sad about the news. The Union Jack is flying at half-mast outside my house. The Queen was like my mum. When you were in her company, it was a special moment. Interview by Graeme Green
‘That smile you see was natural’
Mary McCartney
The invitation came from the Palace’s director of communications. A landmark was coming up: in September 2015 the Queen was to become the longest reigning British monarch, but she didn’t want to celebrate it with pomp and ceremony, in robes and her crown. She wanted instead an official image of her at work engaged in the day-to-day. My informal style seemed a good fit, and I was thrilled when I was commissioned.
I suggested I photograph her seated at the desk. I had about 10 minutes to set up. We were in the Queen’s private audience room in Buckingham Palace. It’s where she received prime ministers for their weekly audience, and read and signed the documents that came to her in the red box every day. The desk was near the window which brought natural light, and it all felt very intimate.
When the Queen came into the room she was accompanied only by a footman – who she was joking with – and her director of communications. She was in good spirits, talking with us all, and that smile you see in the picture was natural.
She was totally focused on what she was doing for those 10 minutes we had together. I had decided to shoot on film as I love the quality of it – a timelessness as well as a depth and richness that you don’t get on digital. But it made things much more nerve-wracking, as I had to wait for the film to be developed to see if I had actually got any pictures I liked.
The image came together beautifully: I had wanted to capture her naturally and show a real moment in her life. Then, I had to keep the whole project totally secret for a couple of months until the image was released. Photographing her was a highlight of my career, without a doubt, and also the most nervous I’ve ever been. Imogen Tilden
‘The light was flattering and she has this mildly cheeky expression’
Chris Jackson, Getty Images royal photographer
I’ve photographed the royals for 20 years now, from official portraits and behind the scenes images to the routine official engagements. The Queen had a very special understanding of what she meant to people and the power she had. That’s why she always dressed in bright colours – so she could be seen. She was there to do a job and she got on with it – she wasn’t there to have her photo taken.
That’s why I particularly love this image, which feels quite different to so many other photographs of her. It was taken on a visit she made to Lister hospital in Stevenage in 2012 to open a new maternity ward. The light dropped in from a roof light on to her face in a really flattering way and she had this mildly cheeky expression. Of course she had to maintain a sense of regality and dignity, but it was evident that she had a great sense of humour. I watched her for so many years really connecting with people: she had an aura about her, and when there were moments of laughter it was genuine. You had to be on the ball to capture it.
I’ve just come back from the Highland Games, which was always one of my favourite royal events to photograph because – the beauty of Scotland aside – it was here I would see the family at their most relaxed. I have some beautiful candid shots of her interacting with her family and the new King. At the end of the day they were just mother and son. She – like him – has an amazingly expressive face. I loved photographing her. IT
‘I knew that the postage stamp image was a particular favourite of the Queen’s’
Greg Brennan
This photo is titled Stamp of Approval. It took 12 years to capture that image at just the right angle: that of a postage stamp. I took many, many pictures but I never got it until, in May 2015 at the state opening of parliament, I went back to my usual position on the Mall. She came around the corner and I got the shot.
I nearly burst into tears. I was very excited and sent the photo to my mother. She said: “I didn’t know the Queen sat for you.” I said: “I took it from a distance of about 200 metres.”
I knew that the royal postage stamp image was a particular favourite of the Queen’s: when Royal Mail wanted to make it more age-appropriate, the Queen sent them a telegram telling them they must not change it. I knew also she had photo albums in the Palace where she liked to keep pictures, a bit like my nan. I sent her a 5x7 print with a letter and I got a reply, asking if I’d be willing to send a signed exhibition-size print of the photo that could be passed on to the Royal Photographic Collection for posterity. I sent it over and the Palace got back to me with a second letter, saying: “I’ve shown your picture to the Queen. She’s very impressed.”
A lot of people said to me that it would be a very valuable image. But for me it’s more about a sense of honour and pride than money. I photographed the Queen for 32 years of my career. I even managed to get a selfie with her once. GG
’I nearly knocked my camera off its tripod and she fell about laughing’
Brian Aris
In 1996, I was booked to do the official portrait for Her Majesty’s 70th birthday. We selected one of the formal rooms at Buckingham Palace. I set up my lighting with my assistant and various people from the Palace and then I was horrified to find that as Her Majesty appeared, everyone else disappeared. When I realised I was alone in the room with the Queen and my assistant, Patrick, I got quite nervous.
I had a Hasselblad camera on a tripod. I asked Her Majesty to sit in a chair for the first shot but, because of my nerves, I unlocked the camera from the tripod and it almost fell off. My assistant pushed it back up and said to me: “You shouldn’t be doing that, Mr Aris.” The Queen fell about laughing. I come from a photojournalism background, which means always being prepared to shoot, so I just fired off two or three frames, and this photo was one of them.
It went very smoothly from there on. Terry O’Neill, a friend, had photographed Her Majesty a year or two before. He told me: “Don’t worry about it. Don’t talk about football. And remember, when you finish the session, there won’t be another pop star, politician or actor that you’re worried about photographing because you just photographed Her Majesty the Queen.” GG
