Queen Elizabeth.Photo: Tristan Fewings/Getty
There are plenty of portraits ofQueen Elizabeth, but a recently rediscovered photo from 2004 shows the monarch in a rare candid moment.
Photographer Rob Munday’s snap of the monarch, titled Platinum Queen: Felicity, is going on display for the first time this week to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, which celebrates her 70 years on the throne. Against a black background, the Queen wears theDiamond Diademwith a single strand pearl necklace and pearl earrings — but it’s her amused expression that makes the photo stand out.
Munday explained toHello!magazinethat he was taking some test shots when the Queen’s close aide, personal stylist and dressmaker Angela Kelly make a funny remark.
“The atmosphere was incredibly jovial,” he recalled. “Angela Kelly is a very funny woman, very down-to-earth. And really, really nice, she put us all incredibly at ease. She would tell jokes, and she’d obviously said something funny to the Queen. And she sort of laughed at that exact moment I pushed the button to do a test shot.”
He added, “Obviously the Queen is very, very comfortable with Angela Kelly, they have this incredible bond, and you can see it.”
Munday can’t recall exactly what Kelly said that entertained the monarch — and expects that she probably can’t either.
“I doubt that Angela herself would remember after all these years, but it was clear that they just have this really great rapport with each other,” he said.
Munday found the portrait last August while going through his archive, including more than 8,000 images featuring the Queen that he took during two sittings in Buckingham Palace’s yellow drawing room.
In addition to the “twinkle in the eye” of the Queen, Munday knew he had come across something special.
Queen Elizabeth, Anna Wintour and Angela Kelly.Yui Mok - Pool/Getty Images
Kelly began her career at Buckingham Palace 28 years ago as the Queen’s Senior Dresser and rose to become Her Majesty’s personal stylist, curator, wardrobe and in-house designer — and one of her closest confidantes.
Kelly wrote about her life with the Queen, 96, in her 2019 bookThe Other Side Of The Coin: The Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe, and she recentlyupdated the bookto include details from the COVID-19 pandemic — including how she took on the duty ofcutting the Queen’s hairduring lockdown.
Queen Elizabeth.Dominic Lipinski - WPA Pool/Getty
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When Kelly became more comfortable in her new role, the Queen wasn’t afraid to voice her opinions.
“As I grew in confidence I’m sure The Queen thought I was a professional and started shouting at me, ‘Don’t do that, do it this way. That’s right, you’ve got it, don’t change it.’ I was thinking, goodness me, I need a gin and tonic,” Kelly said. “So while The Queen was under the dryer I said to her, ‘I’m off for a stiff drink because this is so stressful, getting it just right for you.’ "
source: people.com
