Photographer Broke Royal Protocol When Taking Picture Of The Queen

Photographer David Bailey has revealed the moment he broke royal protocol when taking a picture of Queen Elizabeth II.

The Queen may be well-loved for her beaming smile and her sense of humour, but taking photographs of Royals still seems daunting.

However, 84-year-old photographer David Bailey has a few tricks up his sleeve for setting them at ease.

Although he nearly got in trouble after breaking protocol when taking a photograph of the Queen for her 88th birthday.

In an interview with The Telegraph about his highly esteemed career - spanning an impressive 62 years - Bailey reflected on one particular photograph of the Queen from a shoot in 2014.

He was easing her into the session by 'trying to loosen her up' like he had on a previous shoot with Princess Diana, but in his bid to help crack a smile from the Queen, he went against the rules.

Bailey stated: "I said: 'I bet that cost a few bob, girl'."

"It just came out. I call everyone ‘girl’. But she was girlish. Made a real effort. We had a laugh. Beautiful skin, the Queen," the photographer reflected.

While complimenting the Queen's skin, Bailey had other thoughts about Princess Diana's hair which he called 'terrible'.

'You know, from the hairspray – solid as a plastic dummy,' he said.

Similarly to his shoot with the Queen, Princess Diana's sitting didn't go quite as smoothly as first hoped when a light was dropped on her head by Bailey's assistant.

However, Lady Di simply took it on the chin.

Bailey recalled: "She said: ‘Don’t think about it; it was a terrible accident’. I told her she had been very magnanimous – that’s right, because she asked me what magnanimous meant."

At first, many may view the Queen as a stern, serious figure, weighed down by the pressure of having to confirm big decisions on behalf of the whole country, support a government led by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and look after her own family too - particularly in respect to the scandal which has surrounded her son Prince Andrew.

Yet despite this, she still finds humour in situations just like all the rest of us.

It was recently reported the Queen even 'shrieked with laughter' upon hearing a crude joke which staff tried to prevent her from hearing during a naval ceremony.

And as for said joke?

As told by Sir Donald Gosling, it involved a 'horse trainer giving Viagra to a runner in the 2.30 at Newton Abbott', to which the Queen apparently 'shrieked' at the punchline.

Featured Image Credit: Alamy

Topics: The Queen, Royal Family, UK News

Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck is a Senior Journalist at LADbible Group. She graduated from The University of Manchester in 2021 with a First in English Literature and Drama, where alongside her studies she was Editor-in-Chief of The Tab Manchester. Poppy is most comfortable when chatting about all things mental health, is proving a drama degree is far from useless by watching and reviewing as many TV shows and films as possible and is such a crisp fanatic the office has been forced to release them in batches.