Updated
subscribers. Become an Insider
and start reading now.
Have an account? .
- The British royal family is known for using their portraits to mark special occasions.
- Royal family members are often photographed but cannot take selfies with the public.
- Here are 25 royal family portraits from the 1930s to now.
Members of the British royal family surely have many talents, but if there’s one skill they’ve mastered, it’s posing for pictures.
Wherever they go, professional photographers and enthusiastic fans with iPhones alike clamor to snap a photo of their every move (though royals aren’t allowed to take selfies with members of the public).
From official portraits in Buckingham Palace to informal photocalls while they’re on vacation, here are 25 portraits of the royal family from the 1930s until now.
1936: Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, center, poses with her two daughters, Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret, in the garden of the Royal Lodge at Windsor, England.
Getty Images
1944: Princess Elizabeth celebrates her 18th birthday in the English countryside.
AP Photo
1947: Princess Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip, on their wedding day.
AP Photo
1948: King George VI of Great Britain and his wife, Queen Elizabeth, on their 25th wedding anniversary.
AP Photo
1950: Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip with their baby daughter Princess Anne and son Prince Charles taken after the baby’s christening at Buckingham Palace.
Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
1951: Princess Margaret on her 21st birthday.
AP Photo
1957: Queen Elizabeth II wears a white satin evening gown with a band and star of the Order of the Garter.
AP Photo/Baron
1960: Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones with members of their wedding party at Buckingham Palace.
Getty Images
1973: Princess Anne and Mark Phillips on their wedding day at Buckingham Palace.
Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
1980: Princess Anne with her husband and their son Peter in England.
AP Photo
1981: Prince Charles and Princess Diana pose with family members in the Throne Room of Buckingham Palace on their wedding day.
AP Photo
1984: A family portrait with Prince Charles, Princess Diana, Prince William, and Prince Harry.
AP Photo
1997: Members of the British Royal Family sit for an official portrait in the white drawing room at Windsor Castle after Prince William’s confirmation at St. George’s Chapel.
POOL New/Reuters
2002: Prince Charles with his sons Prince William and Prince Harry during their annual skiing holiday in the Swiss Alps on March 29, 2002, in Klosters, Switzerland.
Julian Herbert/Getty Images
2005: Prince Charles and his new bride Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, with their families.
Hugo Burnand/Pool/Getty Images
2011: Prince William and Kate Middleton with their families on their wedding day.
Handout/Reuters
2013: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge with their son, Prince George, and pets, Lupo and Tilly, at the Middleton family home in Bucklebury, Berkshire.
Michael Middleton/Getty Images
2015: The royal family attends a state banquet to honor China’s President Xi Jinping’s state visit.
WPA Pool/Getty Images
2016: Prince William and Kate Middleton vacationing in the French Alps with their children, Princess Charlotte and Prince George.
ALP/MediaPunch/AP
2017: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle pose for their official engagement photos at Frogmore House in Windsor.
Alexi Lubomirski via Getty Images
2018: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s official wedding portrait.
Alexi Lubomirski/Handout via Reuters
2019: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle pose with their newborn son, Archie, at Windsor Castle.
DOMINIC LIPINSKI/AFP/Getty Images
2021: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announce their second pregnancy more casually, after officially stepping back from official royal duties in March 2020.
Misan Harriman; Copyright owned by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex © 2021
2023: King Charles is coronated as the new monarch wearing the Robe of Estate and the Imperial State Crown.
Hugo Burnand/Buckingham Palace via Getty Images
2024: The first photo of Kate Middleton after she announced her cancer diagnosis shows the princess leaning on a tree at her home.
Matt Porteous
