Photography and the Royal Family, an exhibition at Kensington Palace tells the story of the relationship

The Prince Albertbeloved husband of the Queen Victoriahe was a man of great culture, open-minded and with a strong attitude flair for innovation. So when the photographywas among the first to grasp its potential and, together with his wife, he supported and favored the spread of this new medium, welcoming it into the daily family life and thus forever changing the tale of the monarchy.

Since then, the British royal family has been among the most immortalized subjects in the world. Not only in official events, but also in private. And today the most significant images that have written the photographic history of the English sovereigns, from the time of Queen Victoria, have been collected in an exhibition, Life Through a Royal Lenswhich will open on March 4 in Kensington Palace.

“Since Queen Victoria and Prince Albert first welcomed this revolutionary form of communication, it has shaped the way the world looks at the British monarchy, ”he explained Claudia Acott Williamscurator of the exhibition organized by Historic Royal Palaces. «Photography allowed the royal family to offer fascinating glimpses of his lifeprofessional and private, forever transforming hers public imageand creating an unprecedented relationship between the Crown and its subjects ».

From the rigid formal shots of the Victorian age, when photography took its first steps, to the last shots of the Duchess of Cambridge (including the one for the centenary of Vogue UK in 2016), they will cross each other in the halls of the London Palace nearly 200 years of history of the monarchyobserving not only the evolution of photography itself over the years, but above all how relevant it has been in public perception of the royal family.

Among the photos on display you will be able to admire some real gems, such as originals of the very first photographs of the Court – loaned by Royal Collection Trust of Her Majesty – and the official images most glamorous made by Cecil Beaton at the Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Mother, as well as photographs taken by the same members of the royal family that had never been exhibited before.

Among these, some works by Lord Snowdon, Antony Armstrong-Joneshusband of Princess Margaret and one of the UK’s best known and most respected photographers, who bequeathed some of the most to the world modern and “revolutionary” images of the royal family (iconic is the shot of the Princess who wore the historical Poltimore Tiara of Garrard received for marriage in 1960).

To enrich the exhibition, then, the organizers also asked the ordinary citizens to send – by January 31st – their photos of the royals, and the most beautiful have been selected and will be exhibited alongside those of great photographersdemonstrating once more how photography has really changed the relationship between the monarchy and the people.

Postponed for two years (should have opened in 2020), Life Through A Royal Lens will be open until September 30th. The visit is included in the entrance ticket to Kensington Palace.