Unseen Royal Family Photos Go on Display at Buckingham Palace, Including Queen Elizabeth in New Mom Mode

The display includes images too delicate to be on permanent view

Buckingham Palace is preparing to unveil previously unseen photos from the royal archives.

The Royal Collection Trust announced that an intimate new exhibition, "Royal Portraits: A Century of Photography" will open on May 17 at The King’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace.

The display will chronicle "the evolution of royal portrait photography from the 1920s to the present day through more than 150 items from the Royal Collection and Royal Archives" through the presentation of vintage prints, "most of which are on display for the first time," a statement said. Archival correspondence and unseen proofs are included in the exhibit, giving viewers a peek into the creative process.

One never-before-seen image shows Queen Elizabeth, Princess Margaret, Princess Alexandra and the then-Duchess of Kent holding their newborn babies in 1964. The snap was taken by Princess Margaret's photographer husband, Antony Armstrong-Jones, as a thank-you to royal obstetrician Sir John Peel, who delivered all four babies within two months. Queen Elizabeth smiled to the camera as she cradled the youngest of her four children, Prince Edward, while Princess Margaret posed with her daughter, Lady Sarah.

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Other unreleased images in the collection include pictures of Queen Elizabeth's parents, King George VI and the Queen Mother, taken by Cecil Beaton to evoke "a sense of stability and hope for the nation" during World War II.

The wartime photos include a shot of the royal couple inspecting bomb damage at Buckingham Palace in London in 1940 and a 1943 family snap captured at Royal Lodge in Windsor, showing a young Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret around their father's desk.

The Royal Collection Trust said that the vintage images cannot be on permanent display for conservation purposes. The collection spans from the earliest surviving color photo of a member of the royal family to the Queen Mother's personal copy of Queen Elizabeth's coronation portrait from 1953 to Andy Warhol's glittering portrait of the Queen in 1985 and one of Kate Middleton's 40th birthday portraits.

Princess Kate's milestone birthday picture will be displayed near an 1864 portrait of Alexandra, Princess of Wales, that it is said to resemble.

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A guide for the display will be narrated by Dame Joanna Lumley along with contributions from Rankin and John Swannell. Hugo Burnand, who has a longstanding relationship with King Charles and Queen Camilla and took their official coronation portraits in May 2023, also participated in the guide.

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Royal watchers can keep an eye out for works by celebrated photographers Dorothy Wilding, Annie Leibovitz, Polly Borland and David Bailey, which are also included in the display.

"Royal Portraits: A Century of Photography" opens at The King's Gallery at Buckingham Palace on May 17.

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