2012 marks the Diamond Jubilee of the accession to the throne of Princess Elizabeth, on the death of her father King George VI on 6 February 1952. Queen Elizabeth II is only the second British monarch to have achieved this anniversary. Her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria (r.1837 – 1901) celebrated her own Diamond Jubilee in 1897.

This exhibition celebrates Her Majesty’s 60 years as Sovereign, from the early years of her reign in the 1950s to the present day, through a wide-ranging selection of images, illustrating both key events in her remarkable life and more informal family occasions. The majority of the photographs shown here have been generously presented by the photographers or agencies concerned, specifically for this display. Photographs of The Queen at Windsor are displayed in the centre of the gallery.

These images present us with a portrait of The Queen, one of the most photographed women in the world, as a daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother and Head of State, both at home in the United Kingdom and during some of her many travels around the British Commonwealth and the world at large.