Royal Photographers and their iconic photographs: the best of the best

[pipsfromthefuture]

Photography hobbyists and aficionados unite.

Welcome to the thread where you can display and discuss some of the most iconic photos captured by some of the most talented photographers.

These aren't your average Instagram photos. Oh no. These are the ones that live in your head rent free. The Marie Kondo of photos that spark joy. Where everything in the photo is perfection.

This thread is meant to be fun, light-hearted, and showcase the talents of those behind the lens.

Please do not derail, and do not use this thread to be snarky or have a dig about subjects you don't like, or to other posters. If you cannot keep in the spirit of the thread, then please don't participate or spoil it for others.

She wasn't allowed to marry the man she wanted to as he was divorced I believe?

There was more to it than that I believe. But I don't want to derail the thread

I think this photo was taken by her father on her 18th?

I know Diana’s dress was pretty unpopular but I have always loved this photo, it’s just so Cinderella in this shot.

https://margaretroses.files.wordpress.com/2021/08/5-2.jpg

Another gorgeous one of Margaret.

I was a teenager when she got married and thought her dress was awful at the time, but now I really love it. Funny how your tastes change.

One of the most memorable images from the late Queen's coronation - Queen Salote of Tonga. Most people in the procession were driving in closed carriages or cars because of the weather. She insisted on an open carriage, so that she could see the crowds and be seen. The crowds loved her for that, and because she was so clearly enjoying the occasion, and cheered her all the way. (She was a very large lady - there's a photo of her walking with the Queen when the Queen visited Tonga which shows their relative sizes.)

Apparently that was her favourite photo of all time. She was wearing a light blue top iirc.

I remember hearing Elizabeth Emanuel (one half of the dress designers) saying how horrified she was when Diana got out of the carriage that no one had obviously thought to steam/iron the dress. She was mortified. It's a gorgeous dress but I always thought it looked crumpled so to hear the designer's upset made sense to me. Less crumpled would have, imo, been more wow.

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip meeting for the first time

Which is pretty ironic. I don't think Margaret and Peter would've lasted but they refused to let her marry Peter yet they allowed her to marry a bisexual man

It wasn't that it wasn't steamed but that they didn't think about the size of the dress in a small place and hadn't realised it would crease so much.

Someone mentioned multi-generation photos. Here are four generations in 1899: Queen Victoria with, on the right, 'Bertie', Prince of Wales, future Edward VII; on the left, George, Duke of York, Prince of Wales, future George V; little boy in sailor suit, 'David', future Prince of Wales, Edward VIII and Duke of Windsor.

When Victoria was a child, steamships were just coming into use and railways did not exist. David lived to see the atom bomb and the moon landing.

King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip King Charles

Young Elizabeth and Prince Philip

I don't think Margaret and Peter would've lasted but they refused to let her marry Peter

Most of Mumsnet would have been telling her to run. She was 22/23, had recently lost her beloved father; he was fifteen years older, divorced with two chldren.

This thread has been such a joy! Thank you OP 😊 - a lovely idea!

Diana also kept scrunching it up in her hand which made it look worse

One of the most handsome men who ever lived.

Exactly! He went on to marry a 20 year old girl when he was 45

Who is the “guess who” picture.

She could have married him if she really wanted. She ultimately didn’t want to give up her civil list payment or royal status.

Exactly.

Why could she not marry him and stay a royal?

Presumably because he was divorced.

Presumably because he was divorced.

Under the Royal Marriages Act, the marriage would have needed the Queen's consent. But the Queen was head of the Church of England, and the church did not recognise remarriage of divorces. It put the Queen in an impossible position. And a very painful one, given her strong Christian faith.

When she was 25, Margaret could have married without the Queen's consent, but in the end decided not to. As pp said, she would have had to give up her place in the line of succession (she was third at that point) and her civil list payments. It's also suggested her infatuation had cooled off by then.

I think Margaret's problem was that she never found a real purpose in life to keep her grounded. Unlike Philip, Charles and Anne, for example, who all had causes and interests they were or are deeply committed to.