A century of photographic portraits of the British monarchy on display at Buckingham Palace

From the official photograph of the coronation of King Charles III to the intimate portrait of his aunt Margaret, taken by her husband, an exhibition starting Friday in London covers a century of snapshots of the monarchy.

“Royal Portraits: A Century of Photography”, which will remain open to the public until October 6, It is the first exhibition to be exhibited in the recently reopened King’s Gallery, formerly known as Queen’s Gallery, at Buckingham Palace.

The exhibition, which shows 150 snapshots by 40 photographers, brings together works by renowned artists, including Cecil Beaton, commissioned to portray the royal family for four decades.

All photographs come from the Royal Collection, one of the largest art collections in the world, and include portraits of Dorothy Wilding, Lord Snowdon (Princess Margaret’s husband) and Annie Leibovitz.

Dating back to the 1920s, the exhibition showcases lifelike portraits from the beginnings of black-and-white photography to modern, colorful depictions in the 21st century.

The exhibition begins in a small but imposing blue room, with only two photographs. The first shows the engagement of Prince Albert and the future Queen Mother, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923, and the second is the official coronation portrait of King Charles III in 2023.

100 years apart, exhibition curator Alessandro Nasini explained that the first was a private commission, while the second was distributed around the world in seconds.

“Royal Portraits: A Century of Photography”, the name of the exhibition in English, also displays many iconic photographs of the late Queen Elizabeth II, who died in September 2022, including her coronation portrait by Cecil Beaton.

A black and white photograph shows the Queen in the Green Room at Buckingham Palace, in front of a painted background of Westminster Abbey.

Also on display are Andy Warhol’s 1985 silkscreen based on Peter Grugeon’s original portrait of the queen, and Jamie Reid’s controversial 1977 image for the cover of the single “God Save the Queen,” from the punk group ‘Sex Pistols’.

The song and the album’s image were seen as an attack on the monarchy and most radio stations banned the track at the time.

Photography has been an important way for the British royal family to project a good image and at the same time appear accessible.

According to the exhibition’s curator, Nasini, the photograph can “maintain the historical role and function of a royal portrait while also placing the royal family in the modern era.”

In the digital age, where images are shared globally in seconds and accessible to millions of people, royal photographs may have lost some of their ability to control perceptions of the royal family.

But Nasini wants visitors pay attention to the value of the original portraits and “appreciate their materiality and beauty“.

“It is very important to look closely at these photos, taking the necessary time, especially nowadays, when images are consumed so quickly through mobile phones,” Nasini told AFP.

When asked what her favorite photograph from the collection was, Nasini pointed to a 1968 portrait of the late queen taken by Cecil Beaton.

The photo shows Queen Elizabeth II wearing a black cape, on a pure white background.

“It shows the queen, perhaps more as a woman, as the person who emerged behind the monarchy,” said Nasini, to whom the photo made her think of a letter that the sovereign’s mother wrote to Beaton in 1963.

“The queen mother said in that letter: ‘I feel that as a family we should be deeply grateful to you for making us nice and royal people,'” Nasini said.