An official portrait of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth by celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz has been unveiled.
The US artist - who famously pictured John Lennon naked and hugging Yoko Ono for the cover or Rolling Stone magazine just hours before his assignation in 1980 -shot the queen looking demure and elegant at Buckingham Palace.
Her Majesty is shown sitting on a gilt chair in the palace’s White Drawing Room, wearing a crown, ornate jewellery and a lavish white gown with a white fur stole.
The queen is portrayed gazing out of the open balcony window with daylight cast on her face, as a dark cloud looms over the palace gardens.
Leibovitz said she was inspired by a picture taken of the Queen Mother by Cecil Beaton.
She said: ‘I like tradition. Cecil Beaton’s pictures - they’re very important to me. I feel like it’s a documentation and I was not take a very simple portrait.’ The publication of the picture comes just days ahead of the queen’s first official royal visit to the US in 16 years.
The serene portrait is in stark contrast to Leibovitz’s other work.
She has previously snapped actress Whoopi Goldberg in a bath of milk, Clint Eastwood bound with ropes, comedienne Roseanne Barr mud wrestling, Kate Winslet dunked in a water tank and a heavily pregnant nude Demi Moore.
© bangshowbiz.biz
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