Today is Queen Elizabeth’s 90th birthday, so course Buckingham Palace released more never-before-seen new portraits of Her Majesty. Annie Leibovitz was invited to Windsor Castle to take a series of portraits last month. One involves the Queen with the youngest members of the royal family: her two grandchildren (Louise and James) from Prince Edward and Sophie, plus her great-grandchildren, including Princess Charlotte (on her lap) and Prince George, who looks mischievous as hell. The other children are: Peter Phillips daughters, 5-year-old Savannah and 4-year-old Isla, plus Zara Phillips’ daughter Mia Tindall (the one holding the Queen’s purse!). Zara and Peter’s daughters look SO much alike.
My favorite photo? This absolutely amazing and beautiful portrait of the Queen with her only daughter, the Princess Royal (Princess Anne). The way Anne has her arm around the back of the couch and the casual intimacy of this mother-daughter photo is so striking and lovely. Anne is the best!
And of course, Annie Leibovitz couldn’t come to Windsor Castle and not take a shot of the Queen and her dogs! The Queen hasn’t gotten any more puppies in years, so these dogs are the last dogs she’ll ever have: Willow, Vulcan, Candy and Holly. I love it that the Queen has a dog named Candy. And Vulcan.
I’m also including some photos of the Queen at an event yesterday in Windsor. E! News is running a story about the Queen’s impeccable style throughout the years – go here to read. Personally, I love it when she wears hot pink and diamonds. The Queen has an inner showgirl!
Photos courtesy of WENN, Annie Leibovitz/Buckingham Palace.
Oh that picture with the children! So adorable.
Little Mia holding the Queen’s purse!!! Love that!
I do, too. It looks like an old Renaissance symbolic thing.
Yes, little Mia holding the Queen’s purse is adorable!
Yes- I thought the purse was an adorable touch.
@Betsy yes I like the symbolism in the purse and the reflection of the clock in the mirror.
That is one creepy photo. My husband took a look and said they look like the Addams Family LOL. I like the one with the dogs better.
LOL! Yes, the lighting or filters seem to be giving everything a kind of brownish tinge. All the colours are kind of muted. I like that she’s surrounded by the youngest members of her family for a change. It’s very cute. But my favourite one is of mother and daughter. I love low-key but badass Anne and we rarely see the two of them together like this.
That’s such a lovely photo of HM and Anne. The body language is so warm and personal and that’s reflected in their expressions.
I really like the framing and general execution but ugh, the sepia tone makes them look dead. It’s not a great way to make the royal family look vibrant and modern, both of which the sorely need right now.
Good pics. All of them.
The picture with all the kids was on http://www.yahoo.com today with a story on the Queen. In a bow to incompetent journalism, Yahoo referred to the Queen as posing with her SEVEN great-grandchildren. For the record, she is posing with her two grandchildren (Edward’s kids) and her five great-grandchildren. I thought, jeez, how hard is it to figure out who is actually in the picture, to actually identify them. The errors made in the news today are so disappointing – nothing gets fact checked.
But yes, the picture with the kids is great!
I think the first photo is awful. Don’t get me wrong, kids are cute, but the photo itself is terrible. The room is quite opulent and it clashes with how the kids and the Queen are dressed. They are all wearing rather awful, casual clothes (they all look like extras from some british 80s TV series). That room was just wrong, it is overpowering and they all look unremarkable and drab. Why not take pictures outside (Buckingham Palace does have gardens) with some corgis skipping around the kids. Cheesy? Yes! But this photo doesn´t make them look royal either. They look like tourist taking a souvenir picture. On the bright side, the photo of the Queen and Anne is nice.
I agree completely!
It’s true. Anne Leibowitz is sort of a hack anyway and I believe still recovering from going bankrupt
Casual ? Except for James (so much swagger with his hans in its pockets), the kids are dressed like it’s 1956 and/or they’re going to their cousin’s first Communion.
But I agree, running outside with the corgis would have been a way nicer setting for this photo
Someone on the Guardian made me laugh by referring to George as a “two year old evacuee impersonator.”
I’m getting a different vibe: “first I played with Mommy, and den I played with mr. Crandall… and now I wanna play with youuuuuuuu!”
Don’t get me wrong, that kid was a uterus-warming heart-wrencher, but creeeeeepy.
I love it!
Seriously, this picture is straight out of a creepy haunted house horror.
The dim and dreary lighting is creepy, which is really a shame. Why couldn’t they be in Charles’ pretty Highgrove garden?
I was thinking how pretty that actually is.
The photo is regal and appropriate. You get a good view of all the children posing nicely which is what a lot of people want to see, not them running around like banshees outside. They are dressed adorably, just what you’d expect to see on royal little ones. Their little shoes are precious, especially George’s.
I like it. It’s got the juxtaposition of the opulence we associate with royalty, and the tone of an old master, with everyone casually dressed (or what passes for it with HM) to show that they are actually just real people in amongst it all.
And little Mia Tindall is adorable.
I agree with you, bluhare. It’s the contrast between the castle atmosphere and the people who are dressed like they’re going to a nice Sunday brunch that makes the photo interesting. It highlights the difference between the titles and duties of the people and the people themselves.
I like the gothic overtones. *shrugs* It has a Joshua Reynolds quality to it.
I agree too bluhare. I was wondering if the purse was to humanize them (which worked for me!). When I saw the pic my first thought was “Wow! They look like kids I know in my life!” (American who has put the royals on a pedestal). I like the photo- regal, shows the kids well but also relatable to the general public.
I agree with you 100% and simultaneously think it’s a creepy horror. The two aren’t necessarily exclusive 🙂
Ha, LAK! I get the creepy part; it does look a bit Addams familyish, but I don’t know about horror. George does look a bit like Chucky, though. 🙂
Hear, hear!
I agree too. The juxtaposition really works.
It reminds me of the awful portrait of the Danish Royal Family by Thomas Kluge a couple years ago.
Nothing will ever be as horrible as that. Eek ! It made Prince Christian look like Damien from The Omen
LOL. I just looked it up. LOL. WOW – now THAT is a creepy pic. It’s like a cross between a Dynasty cast pic with some sort of Damien overlay — with a little Poltergeist thrown in…..couldn’t stop giggling.
Indeed, it gives me the vibe of a movie poster for a thriller set during the WWII in an English boarding school. And I don’t understand the fascination with editing the professional photos to oblivion, at some point the people’s skin starts looking waxy.
I think the Queen looks in great shape for her age, I met once a gentleman that was 92 and was resembling somebody barely 70. I guess is a combination between good genes, food, passion for your life and loving what you do.
The colours are too muted.
Liebovitz is a dreadful photographer. The kids are adorable but it stops me in my tracks to see children with titles. So weird.
Love the picture of the Queen and Anne. Hardworking Anne is the one who should follow in the Queen’s footsteps of anyone has to!
The photoshop is strong in that first photo. Ugh. It’s not even well-done photoshop. I can see where the edges around the outer subjects didn’t get feathered in. That’s just so much NO.
The pic of the Queen and her daughter is lovely though.
@evie
and it’s not just the edges, too. They clearly edited the faces a lot, so the light on the faces does not match the light in the rest of the room and I think that is what contributes to the “horror-like” feel of the picture: it’s like they just materialized there, they aren’t lit by the “real” light.
She’s so vibrant and healthy for 90!
Was thinking the same thing. She looks great for 90!
It is because she has spent her lifetime surrounding herself with dogs.
Wearing hot pink and diamonds does wonders for the immune system, don’t you know? LOL. Seriously though, she does look great and I just adore the pic of her with her dogs.
Hmmm, I need to change up my style game. Hot pink and diamonds, here I come!
I agree that the Queen looks great but honestly, she’s hardly had a hard life. She’s always had the best of everything – food, health care, first-class living conditions, no money problems and I assume the love of her family. Given the fact that she lived through two world wars etc, she’s comparatively led a very fortunate, pampered existence. This doesn’t mean she isn’t admirable in any way though.
Two world wars? She was born in 1926, so she missed that first one.
Absolutely love love love Mia holding the Queens purse!!!!! So adorable 🙂
Mia is precious. It is always amazing to see extended family groups that demonstrate how family members resemble one another. They all look like Elizabeth.
And the picture with the Princess Royal is lovely.
The Windsor DNA must be extremely strong as some of the resemblances go back a couple of decades.
They are all adorable, but that little Mia takes the cake.
It’s centuries of inbreeding. It will take several infusions of external, non related blood to balance the Windsor genes.
It’s more the Teck resemblance. The Queen resembles her grandmother Mary and Princess anne is a dead ringer for her great-aunt Mary, the Princess Royal.
Kori: my point was that it is all the same family genes no matter the branch. All swirling up and reinforcing themselves.
Fat Mary was Victoria’s cousin, so her daughter, May of Teck didn’t present a significantly different strain of genes from her husband George 5.
The German royal families were particularly notorious for marrying their own cousins. An echo of various European Royal families eg the Hapsburgs.
Not forgeting that when they decided to marry non royals, they didn’t stray too far from people with blood connections eg Diana and Charles or The Queen and Philip.
These days ‘Windsor genes’ are anything not in the royal family line as opposed to the in-laws’ genetic contribution.
It’s that persistent set of genes that identifies them as members of the 1indsor clan, even if the resemblence is a throwback to earlier members of the clan, as opposed to the in-laws eg Beatrice is all Windsor, but what we really mean is she’s mostly Hanoverian because that’s all in the Windsor strain.
The good thing is, it’s happening, George and Charlotte are 1/2 Middleton and 1/4 Spencer. It’s amazing how the 1/4 Windsor shows up so strongly.
Your math doesn’t add up.
Technically, they are 1/4 Goldsmith, 1/4 Middleton, 1/4 Spencer and 1/4 Windsor.
Wow! Gorgeous at 90!! I’d love to have that hot pink outfit!
I know! She has game, the old girl, rocking a flowery print, a pink coat and a hat with a posy on it. She looks elegant in low heels and THIS is how you hold your hands, hint hint…
I agree with the top photo being three shades of terrible. The kids save it but the lighting is awful, their drab coloured, matched outfits don’t stand out in the opulent but dreary room, and it looks like any Sears photographer could have done that portrait.
That pic of Anne and QE is so touching
Mia Tindall and that bag!!
All the kids look like something out of Dickens !
Does Charlotte possess only that one dress?
Agree with everything you said, especially the “one dress” on Baby Carole!
Haha Baby Carole Bucket. Lols
The one of Anne and the Queen is really wonderful.
I guess they bought her the same ensemble (dress, pink sweater, white tights, white shoes) in different sizes, since the last two photos were presumably of her in different months, including from last year.
I’m guessing William is micro-managing what his kids wear in public viewings, like when he and George wore the same type of outfit when they went to visit Kate and Charlotte in the hospital.
Overall, these Leibovitz photos look gloomy with the muted colors. Just so odd and deary.
I would have liked a photo in which the kids were playing with each other and with toys with QE2 watching them with a smile and/or interacting with at least one of them. Like a casual setting. Bring some life and youthful energy into the picture.
Yes….agree with you anne_00….the children look a bit demonised and oddly dressed for this century. And baby Charlotte’s face looks a bit weird. Is that because she is a miniature SCarole?
When you look at closeups, it is a different dress. One dress was used for the odd family photo in the garden and the portrait on the chair. This is a different (very similar) dress. Might be the same pink sweater.
Yes Mandy consign both statements. Mia with the purse is the second Queen of that pic. Love it! the 4-year-old Isla is also looking great and has a lovely outfit that I would totally wear myself.
The next thing I noticed was baby Charlotte AGAIN seeming to wear the same dull outfit. As though little girls can’t wear bright colors or anything else but white and pale pink. maybe the point is for her NOT to stand out and be burdened with Princess Di shoes to fill.
I don’t see anything wrong with the pic like others and it’s nice seeing the other kids in the family.
All three pictures are beautiful. I adore the one with Anne. My father is also 90. That generation wasn’t perfect, far from it, but there is a dignity, selfless sense of responsibility and character that we are going to lose forever when they go.
I agree, I love those pics. Especially the one with Anne. They look so happy and content. And close.
I remember a little about those things you mentioned from my grandparents (who would be around 100 now if they were still alive). Always put the kids first, the work, the responsibilities, the family. My grandmother (according to my mom) worked 7 days a week for decades. Vacations? Please. She built a business with my grandfather, she had the entire household (no washing mashine or something equally luxurious), she cleaned the house top to bottom every week, put 3 meals on the table every day, grew her own f*cking vegetables, and baked for the extended family on Sundays, among other things. She never mentioned it, not once that my mom remembers. Granted, they were the generation that started WWII. So aside from the obvious reasons why they might not have complained, they knew what they had after the war. I don’t think my generation has any clue as to what we really have.
I try to remember that when I have to drag myself out of a “I’m so STRESSED” hole and off the chips-covered sofa to push a button on the washing machine. 😉
Please don’t conflate your grandmother’s life & work with that of the Queen.
The royals are not selfless.
@littlemissnaughty
They sound wonderful.
@Azurea
I didn’t say the royals were selfless. I said that generation had a sense of selfless responsibility – putting duty before self. I don’t see how you can deny that Queen Elizabeth has put her responsibility as Queen over her own pleasure for her entire life. Granted, she was richly rewarded for it, but look at the younger generation of Royals to see the contrast.
@Azurea, come on. That is not what I meant. But compare her to her grandson, the one who wants more time to grow into his duty or whatevery, and you know exactly what I mean. These days, it’s all about finding yourself first etc. etc. That’s great, really. But the line between taking care of your own needs and refusing to sack up when the time comes seems to be disappearing.
@GNAT, they were. As grandparents. 😉 There’s always another side to the story and as I said, that generation had other “issues” but especially for my grandmother (both my grandmothers, actually), this is true. They never complained and times were tough.
Yes, littlemissnaughty, I don’t mean to paint them as perfect. They had issues. But they had some beautiful traits as well that I think we have lost.
I know exactly what you mean.
My grandmother on one side of my family grew up dirt poor. I don’t mean blue collar but southern country backwater poor. She worked menial jobs to help her family and when she married my grandfather, she still worked cleaning homes or taking in laundry. She was made to quit school young and told me she once had a small dream of going to college one day but knew it was stupid and impossible. Never once did she complain, she just decided her children would get out and do better.
Imperfect generation, but I don’t think many people can imagine living through extreme poverty like that nowadays.
Every one of her children went to college and bought her a house with decent indoor plumbing in the late 60s. They didn’t have a television until well past the national average. Still, she didn’t want anything fancy, just enough to make do. My grandfather cried with gratitude and loved having AC for the first time and not window fans.
There was honor in sacrifice and duty in those days it seems. She doesn’t even complain about her arthritis. She just says, “God is good and it’s a reminder I’m alive.” Me? I get a paper cut and I’m a whiny baby.
Yes, they had a sense of selflessness that I do not think we’ll see again. Which reminds me of the last episode of my beloved Foyle’s War.
Agree that the Queen and Princess Anne photo is beautiful. Everyone always says what a family of robots they are, but that looks like real warmth.
That picture shows a lot of love and warmth, I agree.
I spent yesterday evening at my 90 year old Grandmother’s house. Her hair was meticulously done, and she’d donned a black mock neck sweater and some of her diamond jewelry to go out to supper.
That photo of the Queen on the steps with the Corgi’s – I wish nan still had that kind of mobility. She was almost killed about 7 years back because a cab driver hit her in the middle of a crosswalk, and she’s needed two hip replacements since – so clearly not as agile as she could have been at her age.
Oh, I’m sorry she has trouble, but I’m so happy that you still have her with you. She sounds marvelous.
God save her, truly.
Happy birthday brenda!
I love princess Anne, truly royal.
Daily mail had an article ( obviously!) according to it, princess royal does not consider royal duties burden *Cough* dick of Cambridge *cough* also, she is not “pleasure seeking hanger on” *cough* kitty Cambridge *cough*
major shading in the article.
ps kids are adorable, charlie is growing so fast!
Sorry, who is Charlie?
My best friend’s name is Charlotte, she is ridiculously tomboyish. Pretty much everyone calls her charlie. Its a nick name for Charlotte. I hope to heavens princess grows up to be a tomboy and not “ladylike” , “sweet” sexist terms her father often makes
I don’t know if “Dick of Cambridge” was intentional or a glorious typo, but I love it.
I stole this from a commentator on the previous thread!
I love this comment, and your moniker.
I wonder if little Mia just decided to pick up The Purse. It’s like a quarter of her size.
I love noting how little ones play with ordinary everyday objects. Like Charlotte fiddling with the Queen’s pair of glasses. And there was a picture of Shiloh when she was about the same age, visiting one if the Jolie-pitts’s movie sets and she was photographed clutching a *scotch tape dispenser* like it was a toy.
It just cracks me up and it’s so endearing to see how little kids view things.
The Daily Mail says it was an unscripted moment, she just picked it up: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3550750/Three-poignant-portraits-released-mark-Queen-s-90th-birthday.html
Trust children to bring spontaneity into formal and slightly stuffy situations. Little Mia with Granny’s purse is just adorbs.
ArtHistorian, what is your professional opinion? The pic is photoshopped to look like a painting, soahow do you rate it?
That photo of Mia and the handbag is EVERYTHING. Anne looks so much like Pricess Margaret. Love all 3 shots.
The kids all look alike in many ways but Charlotte is a Middleton.
Yes she is. Mia is just too cute.
I love the Leibovitz photos! I think she did an amazing job at showing the Queen as a person and not just a figurehead. I think the contrast of the very posh background with a warm family gathering is perfect – to me it captures a great message, that no matter what we have (or don’t) in material things, time spent with loved ones is what brings real happiness.
Agree! Well put.
Ugh Annie Leibovitz group pictures always look so overprocessed.The one with the kids is such a adorable concept-just a terrible execution. They look like they were all photoshopped into the photograph.
The one with Ann is the best, and I like the one with the corgis.
In an Instagram world, her photos now just look like someone went overboard on the filters.
I love these beautiful photographs so much. Annie Leibovitz is absolutely brilliant with a camera. Like almost everyone these days, photography has become a hobby for me. At least digital photography. I will probably never work with film. Anyway, I have been trying to learn as much as I can about it, and from my very little experience, I know that taking photographs of people is extremely difficult. Taking photographs of people indoors is a level of difficulty that is hard to describe. I know Annie has decades of experience, but still she has in a sense captured here the fish that dogged the poor fella in Old Man and the Sea. The balance of texture and lighting is so extraordinary, but then to be able to pull from the Queen a natural smile and affection for her family is pure gold. She has literally and figuratively softened the Queen. Happy Birthday, Queen Elizabeth! Amazing Job, Annie!
My grandma has just been put in a high dependency home due to dementia so that photo of the queen and Anne has made me a little teary. My grandma is just younger than the queen.
Beautiful pictures of the Queen make me tear up oftentimes because my grandmother looked a lot like her, at least I thought so. I was extremely close to my grandmother and think about her just about every day.
Hugs. I am sorry about your grandma. 🙁
I don’t normally like the Queen (she seems sort of scary and mean, and that movie about her and the prime minister after Diana’s death–blanking on the name–didn’t help her cause, with me at least), but these really made her seem like a lovely person. The mother daughter pic is gorgeous, as well as the shot with the kids. The older girl was in Will and Kate’s wedding pictures, if I recall. I think I recognize her. The dogs are adorable. If she lives as long as her mom, she may regret not getting more dogs. Dogs are wonderful!
I believe it was Vanity Fair that had an article within the last year about the Queen’s dogs. Something to the effect that she had stopped breeding them because she didn’t want to leave any behind when she passes. It was a really well-written and interesting article about her breeding program. I guess she decided that she’d rather be without them than have them be without her. It’s sweet, but it does make me sad to think about the Queen with no corgis bouncing around!
It is sweet, because they would absolutely go through trauma if she was all of a sudden gone. It is so sad to see depressed doggies. Hopefully these ones live a good few more years!
I had read that she also was afraid of having little puppies around that she could trip over. At her age, a fall can be a very dangerous thing!
I actually felt a lot of sympathy for the Queen as she was portrayed so brilliantly by Helen Mirren. If that is how things went down after Diana’s death, Tony Blair was forcing the Queen to put on display something her entire upbringing taught her she should never do. The only world the Queen has known is one of royalty which is bound by its own rules and customs that make up the very core of who she is.
ITA – the hysteria the press whipped up about it all disgusted me (and still does), they slated her for putting her grandchildren before the ‘grief’ of hysterical complete strangers. And Tony Blair used it as an opportunity to make himself look good. Yes there are some thing that she could have handled better but the press at the time seemed to forget that 2 young boys had just lost their mother in a violent way and needed their grandmother, dare i say more than the press and nation did. The press were far too focused on reporting the grief of the nation and attacking the RF, perhaps to make up for the slating that they had been giving her before the accident.
I don’t know enough of the history, and I understood her position, but I just thought that it made her appear unnecessarily rigid. Just because something hasn’t been done, doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be. I think it made her look bad, and ultimately, I think that she also realized that.
I think that when you are a public commodity (maybe not the right word, but they are not private people and they don’t have the same rights to privacy as private people do), you need to acknowledge the public. I don’t see how making a statement (surely written by someone else) would have prevented her from being there for her grandchildren
I agree especially in hindsight when you realize all the thIngs Diana did. She was a nightmare daughter in law regardless of Charles’ indiscretions. I’m sure she didn’t know what to do in a new situation that she’d never experienced. I’m not saying she wanted Diana dead, I’m only saying it probably brought up conflicting and confusing emotions.
Betti: There was no statement from BP. Nada.nothing.nyet. acknowledging the tragedy. Not even in the sunday services they attended at Balmoral the day of her death because Diana was no longer a member of the family so her name had been removed from the usual services inserted into the prayer book. The Royals appeared to go about their day as if nothing had happened. It was bad optics and poor management on the part of the Queen which allowed for the vacuum to be filled by Tony Blair and the media.
Further, that acorn flowered into pitchfork hysteria because the Queen doggedly stuck to protocol and someone leaked that it was only protocol that was stopping her from acknowledging Diana’s death in a public way.
A short acknowledgement via a statement from BP as soon as it happened, or at the very least earlier in the week would have gone a long way, and wouldn’t have flowered into mass hysteria or at the very least would gave been manageable hysteria.
As it unfolded, her adherence to protocol backed her into a corner where she had to give a personal address about a woman she didn’t particularly care for, AND forced those boys to walk through that ugly public mob because anything else wasn’t going to calm them down.
In the retelling, the entire episode has been re-written as her focusing on her grandsons, and that has detoxified the situation in her favour, BUT it was about protocol for her.
Ps: that’s not to say that she didn’t care about the grandsons or wanting to protect them, but she hid behind protocol and was so obstinate about it that the situation devolved into the nightmare it eventually became.
Ps: Being the Ostrich Queen, she probably thought if she did nothing as usual, the situation would go away.
What started as a simple need to acknowledge that Diana had died, even a bland statement saying Diana has died, please give us space whilst we process it,
The four youngest kids look so similar…not bad Windsor genes, not bad.
I think Charlotte is the outlier looks wise. Meaning all the kids resemble each other or some aspect of Windsor past and present, and she looks pure Pippa Middleton.
I think that George looks *so* much like Michael Middleton. As for Charlotte, in my opinion, in that first released photo (on the chair), she looked exactly like Carole, but in the family holiday pic (in France) I saw a strong resemblance to QE, as I do in this pic.
I love all of these photos! I have always loved the Queen.
Little Mia! She’s adorable. And James is so big. He looks so grown up. Love the pic of the queen and Anne.
When will the Queen and Camilla be properly fitted for bras?
Surely at 90 she can do what the hell she likes with the royal bosom.
Seriously …..
I love how naughty Prince George always looks. My son is the same age and is blond and rather naughty too so I have a soft spot for him.
That first picture drives home, for me, how weird it is that Kate goes on and on and on about finally giving the Queen a “little gull” as if she didn’t already have several. So bizarre.
Because it’s always about Kate. George the is only great-grandson, the rest are all girls.
What Kate means is that the Queen finally has a titled female great-grandchild in the line of succession. IIRC Peter and Zara’s children are not in line for the throne (and even if I am wrong, as Anne’s grandchildren they would be way back in the line). Because titles are all that really matters to Mrs. Bucket.
All of her great grandchildren are in line of succession. William’s children are the only titled great grandchildren but don’t forget that legally the Wessex children are entitled to the Prices/Princesses style, even if their parents chose for them to be known by lesser titles.
Love all of them, particularly the one with the grandchildren!
The portraits are wonderful. I wish they had included one of her with a Land Rover. I know at 90 she probably isn’t taking too many excursions in it anymore, but it would have been a great portrayal of her to remind us that she isn’t your average granny. 🙂
Mia Tindall holding the purse is everything. She looks so cute holding it up as far as she possibly can.
Louise looks exactly like the Queen, even James does, too (though more Edward than QE. Also, James could join a children’s Beatles tribute band because that haircut is amazing).
The photo with the Princess Royal is the best one – they’re clearly very close.
I’m a republican (note: small r) but am feeling a little fond of the old queen today. I heard a fab story from someone I work with recently:
When one of the Saudi Royal family was over here a while ago, no doubt putting in another arms order, he went to visit her at Windsor. & apparently, having commented about women not being allowed to drive in Saudi, she took great delight in taking the wheel herself & driving his royalness *fast* around Windsor Great Park.
Ha! Nice one Brenda.
TQ is cool at 90. Lol I love that story.
Hahaha she’s a bad ass
I think it is worth mentioning, as we note her birthday, that Queen Elizabeth is the only female member of the British Royal Family to join the Armed Forces and the only present Head of State to have served in Work War II.
(Things you learn on Facebook)
Fun note. Still acting Head of State yes. 95-year-old GD Jean of Luxembourg served in the Irish Guards in WWII but he abdicated in 2000. He used to ride horseback at the Trooping the Color.
Things you learn on Celebitchy!
(And how did World become Work? I swear it was fine when I proof read it!)
Similarly with king Michael of Romania–the only one living who was a head of state during ww2. He lost his throne in the communist coup postwar. Michael is a first cousin once removed from Philip–both being children of Greek royals but contemporaries in age.
tumblr has pointed out that the setting, Green Drawing Room at Windsor, was the same for a portrait of Queen Victoria with her descendants painted for her Golden Jubilee. I think the green settee in the corner of this photo is the one Victoria was sitting on in that painting.
That is so cool.
My favorite picture is of Anne & her mother. Because even if she’s the Queen, she’s a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She’s Gan Gan.
The kids’ picture is photoshopped, but still very sweet. Little Mia takes the cake with the purse. Savannah & Isla are cute. All of Anne’s grandkids are adorable.
I wish Kate & William would stop dressing George like some Dickensian model. Stop! He’s a cute kid, who looks ready to bolt. Go George, go! Charlotte is all Carole Middleton, to me.
James & Louise are growing up. Nice looking kids.
I love that she chose to have a picture with her dogs.
How has no one commented on the fact that Louise is the spitting image of the Queen at that age? She is going to grow up looking exactly like her! Never saw it until now.
I thought the exact same…Prince Edward looks most like the Queen so not surprised.
I agree with the Gothic comments. The top picture looks like an old VC Andrews book cover. At first you can only see HM through the small cutout hole, then open it up and see the sinister children surrounding her.
And comments on the children are interesting to read. It seems even young children are judged by who their parents are. Like the parent, like the child. Dislike the parent, pick on the child.
I loathe William and his sloth of a wife, god save us, if he ever becomes king, monarchy is done for!
His kids should not be judged based on parents behavior they are lovely and innocent as little ones naturally are.
Middleton women are pretty if not beautiful, so even if people are comparing charlie to carol(e) i think it as a compliment. Also, adorable is the trending word here about kids.
No one is picking on children here.
Katie!!! Here we go with the sloth-shaming again!
I’ll take your word for it. I’ve never heard anything about Carole that would make it a compliment for Charlotte to be compared to her.
And have a look at comment #33.
I have seen the queen in person four times in my life. She came for a visit to a university near my house. I sat on my front lawn with my baby son waiting to see her car drive by. There were a few people lined up along the street but it was residential so there weren’t many. As her motorcade drove past I could see her sitting in the back seat by herself. She saw me sitting there with my baby and gave me a little wave. It was cute. These pictures are beautiful. She represents tradition, family and stability among other things. I think that’s important when we consider what’s happening in our world today.
I know it’s PC to say all kids are cute and adorable, but Charlotte is the opposite of pretty. This is painfully obvious in this picture, where it’s impossible not to compare her unfavourably with Anne’s gorgeous grandaughters.
Isla and Savannah are lucky to take after the Kelly and McCarthy sides of the family. Let’s hope it beats back the Windsor in years to come.
Actually, I think that Charlotte in this photo resembles the Queen and Isla looks like Prince Phillip, down to the same arms behind the back position.
I think PGTips is a mix but mostly Middleton. His eyes esp are reminding me of KM when she was a kid. I see Carole and Pippa in their daughter.
It is cute that they mimic that arm position. There is a photo floating around of Charles and Philip (Charles is very young) wearing kilts and both walking around with their hands behind their backs.
Nota: for me, PGtips is a mix of Michael Middleton and the Churchill branch of the Spencer-Churchills. Infact, I think the Churchill is winning out over the MM as he grows.
Mimi. Absolutely.
Poor Charlotte was stung by a bee. On her bottom lip.
And it’s a good thing they put a second dress beneath her dress.
What made me laugh was the plan to dress all the girls like their 90 yr old Gan Gan — cardigans, skirts, sturdy shoes. One of the Moms put her foot down and said “lacy party socks”. I’ve only seen a couple of pictures of Charlotte and some time apart but she seems to be wearing the same outfit or just all her dresses are the similar print /color ? Kate instilling her famous “wear it again unless themed traveling show dresses” ethos in the princess, I’m thinking.
These photos are stunning. The composition with the kids!! Wow. But my fave is the Q and her canine gang. She looks so happy. They do too. They must know they are some Royal B!itches and they are loving life. This pic made me grin.