Queen Elizabeth II

1 portrait on display in Room 32 at the National Portrait Gallery

Queen Elizabeth II, by Cecil Beaton, October 1968 - NPG - © V&A Images; On loan from American Friends of the National Portrait Gallery (London) Foundation, Inc.: Gift of Mr. Ford Hill.

© V&A Images; On loan from American Friends of the National Portrait Gallery (London) Foundation, Inc.: Gift of Mr. Ford Hill.

Queen Elizabeth II

by Cecil Beaton
bromide print, October 1968
19 1/4 in. x 15 3/8 in. (490 mm x 391 mm)
Lent by Gift of Mr Ford Hill, American Friends of the National Portrait Gallery (London) Foundation, Inc., 2011
Primary Collection
NPG P1491


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  • Cecil Beaton (1904-1980), Photographer, designer and writer. Artist associated with 1052 portraits, Sitter associated with 314 portraits.

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In 1968, the National Portrait Gallery held its first photographic exhibition Beaton Portraits 1928-68 (November 1968 - March 1969). Curated by Roy Strong, the Gallery's Director, it was the first retrospective of the work of a living photographer in a British national museum. The Queen wears an Admiral's Boat Cloak and her poses from this sitting deliberately echo Pietro Annigoni's famous 1954 painting. This 1968 sitting was Beaton's last with Queen Elizabeth, although he continued to photograph other members of the royal family until November 1979.

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