French calf leather album by Maquet, with silver gilt clasps and green watered silk board lining, each leaf having four embossed paper windows, containing 100 albumen cartes-de-visite (RCINs 2915115-2915213). From the 1840s Queen Victoria began to acquire

Portrait Photographs in the Royal Collection

The Royal Family have collected, created and commissioned many portrait photographs

JANE BOWN (1925-2014)

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (b. 1926)

Feb 2006

RCIN 2999843

Over the course of her reign, Queen Elizabeth II has commissioned many significant photographers to take her official portrait for special events and birthdays. Famous commissions include Cecil Beaton (1904-80), Julian Calder (b.1945), Annie Leibovitz (b.1949) and Polly Borland (b.1959). For her 80th birthday, Queen Elizabeth II commissioned fellow octogenarian Jane Bown (1925-2014) to take the official portrait. The Queen appears at ease and content. 

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    Royal Collection Trust is a charity caring for the Royal Collection, one of the world’s great art collections. Income from your visit helps us to conserve and share the Collection so that it can be enjoyed by everyone, wherever they are.