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castle at the edge of the world

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Queen Elizabeth II in her first official photographic sitting as Queen by society photographer Dorothy Wilding. 

It took place on 26 February 1952, just twenty days after the accession. A total of fifty-nine photographs were taken by Wilding, showing The Queen dressed in a variety of gowns designed by Norman Hartnell and wearing jewellery including the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara. 

The photographs taken during this sitting were the basis of The Queen’s image on postage stamps from 1953 until 1971, as well as providing the official portrait of The Queen which was sent to every British embassy throughout the world.

#queen elizabeth ii#british royal family
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King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra dressed for the State Opening of Paliament, February 1901. They are shown posing in a photographic session with the photographer William Downey. Princess Victoria attended the session and photographed her parents from the side of the room. (x)

For the opening of his first Parliament on 14 February 1901, Bertie planned every detail. “I wished it to be in as grand State as possible” he told Vicky. Victoria had last attended the opening of Parliament fifteen years before, in 1886, and on the seven occasions when she opened it after Albert’s death, she refused to appear in state. Now, for the first time in forty years, the monarch drove to Parliament in the old state coach.The House of Lords wass packed as Bertie walked in procession, wearing a flowing crimson robe and the Imperial State Crown, unused since 1861. Alix, clasping his left hand, wore a black mourning dress and the Koh-i-noor beneath her scarlet robes, and Queen Victoria’s small diamond crown witha flowing crepe veil. Both she and Bertie were “very alarmed & shy & emotionné”, but her regal appearance created a sensation. With Alix at his side (”I… heard & felt my heart beating, loud all the time we were seated on that very conspicuous place” she wrote), Bertie read the speech himself, unlike Victoria, who had ceased reading it in person after 1861.
By projecting monarchy as tradition, Bertie was in fact modernising and reforming it. He considered Victoria’s whithdrawal and retreat into invisibility to be almost a dereliction of duty. The sovereign, in his view, must not just do the work, but be seen to do it. It was he who made sure that ceremonial was intentionally shifted to the top of the Crown’s agenda. 
Bertie: A life of Ewdard VII by Jane Ridley
#king edward vii#british royal family
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