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Detail from showing paintings hanging on the wall of Buckingham House
Royal Portraiture

The Royal Collection holds royal portraits from visual works to decorative arts

THOMAS PATRICK JOHN ANSON, 5TH EARL OF LICHFIELD (1939-2005)

Queen Elizabeth II on board HMY Britannia

1972

RCIN 2999908

This informal portrait captures the moment HM Queen Elizabeth II saw photographer Patrick Lichfield (1939–2005) being dunked into a pool on HMY Britannia.

Lichfield was invited on the voyage to take photographs to mark Queen Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh's Silver Wedding anniversary and during the trip he was soaped and ducked in the pool as part of an Equator-crossing ceremony. Recalling the event, Lichfield wrote:

I did have the wit to take a waterproof camera with me and when I came up for about the third time, I took a picture of The Queen up on the bridge laughing at me

 


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