Royal portraits: the family celebrates the Queen’s 90th birthday
Her Majesty spent her 90th birthday surrounded by four generations of her family and feted by her people. It was a day to remember, reports Juliet Rieden.
It was surely no coincidence that the three o cial 90th birthday portraits, taken by celebrity portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz, echoed photographs of Queen Victoria and her family, whose length of reign Queen Elizabeth II has now overtaken. This handsome shot (left) shows Her Majesty not as monarch in crown and regalia, but as a happy and loving mother with her five great-grandchildren and two youngest grandchildren. The two other photographs show the Queen in the grounds of Windsor Castle with her dogs and
on the sofa with Princess Anne (below) – a touching mother and daughter moment. The day was spent at Windsor (right) and culminated with 1000 fiery beacons lit across Britain and the largest gathering of the royal family in years at a private party hosted by Prince Charles. An additional photo shoot (above), for the Royal Mail’s commemorative stamps, features the Queen with the royal heirs.