When David Bailey called the queen “girl” (and she burst out laughing)

Only a great photographer could manage to capture the mischievous light that hides behind the usually austere gaze of the Queen Elizabeth and transform it into an illuminating smile. That great photographer is David Baileya true icon, the one who inspired the character of Michelangelo Antonioni Blow up in the mid-sixties and which contributed to the creation and dissemination of Swinging London. Now Bailey, who is 84, told the British newspaper The Telegraph some of the most memorable moments of his career, including the shooting with Elizabeth II in 2014 And the photo taken a lady Diana in 1988 and shown to the public only now in the exhibition Life Through a Royal Lens exhibition which opened at Kensington Palace on March 4th.

In the interview Bailey revealed her secrets to making subjects melt in front of the camera. In the case of the sovereign, immortalized on the occasion of her 88th birthday, the photographer broke the ice asking her “if her jewels were real”. Her Majesty broke into a smile and Bailey added, “I bet they cost a few bucks, girl!“. A epic royal gaffe but completely involuntary: «It came out like this, I call them all ‘girl’». The queen, ironic as always, in the face of that blatant violation of the protocol was not upset. On the contrary: “We had a good laughBailey said. Adding: «Elizabeth was really young. Splendid skin, the queen ». From that meeting came one of the most captivating photos ever taken of the monarch. “She is charismatic with a twinkle in her eye, the kind of person I admire and love to photograph, ”added Bailey.

The approach with lady Dwhich the photographer faced when she was 27 years old and it was at the height of popularity and in full splendor. In the interview with Telegraphof that special photographic session Bailey first remembered that the princess he had “terrible hair”. Blame the excess lacquerin typical eighties style, which had made her hair rubbery and “solid as a plastic mannequin.”

A sort of natural helmet which, however, proved useful when, during the shooting, accidentally a light fell on Diana’s head. “At that moment I thought, ‘Oh man!’ Bailey said. But the princess was kind and even comforted the assistant in charge of that mess, telling her, “Don’t think about it, it was just an accident.” Bailey then thanked the princess by telling her that she had been very magnanimous: «I remember it well because she then asked me what ‘magnanimous’ meant».

From that bizarre session, commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery, also came out the photo that Bailey had so far kept in his archive and which can now be seen at Kensington Palace. A portrait in black and white, beautiful, in which the princess, immortalized in profile, seems absorbed in her thoughts. An image in which, like all Bailey’s portraits, a new side of people emerges in front of the camera.