Exclusive: Royal Photographer Chris Jackson Reveals What It Was Like Photographing Queen Elizabeth's Many Sides: “She Didn’t Make it Easy For You”
The 'Modern Majesty' author tells 'Marie Claire' how the late Queen "understood the power of the image."
Chris Jackson has been photographing the Royal Family for Getty Images for two decades, traveling the world to document everything from royal tours to funerals, royal weddings and The King’s coronation. In his latest book, Modern Majesty, he explores the idea of a monarchy that’s shifting with modern times, and Jackson tells Marie Claire that “a lot has changed since the reign of Queen Elizabeth.”
“Queen Elizabeth was obviously incredible, respected and admired around the world, and, you know, I always enjoyed photographing her,” he shares. “Every opportunity you had was special.”
As one of the Royal Family’s most trusted photographers, Jackson had the opportunity to take numerous portraits of the late monarch, including a special photo marking the start of her Platinum Jubilee year in 2022.
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Queen Elizabeth is pictured at her desk in 2022 in a Platinum Jubilee year portrait by Chris Jackson.
“One of my favorite photographs is a shot I took of her in Sandringham with her red box,” he shares, referring to the box full of official government and royal papers the late Queen was “given every day of the year apart from Christmas and Easter.”
Jackson shares that Queen Elizabeth is “sort of laughing next to it in a place she feels very comfortable, Sandringham, and I think that really summed up a lot of elements of her character—you know her commitment to duty, her sense of fun.”
The Getty Images photographer continues that her multi-faceted personality was part of what made Queen Elizabeth so interesting to photograph over the years.
Queen Elizabeth smiles in a photo taken by Chris Jackson as she visits Merthyr, Wales in 2012.
“You know, she didn't always smile and she didn't make it easy for you the whole time, and that's what I enjoyed about it," Jackson shares.
"She was someone that when they walked into the room, everyone could feel her presence and she was iconic to photograph,” he adds. “And if the light fell in the right way— it could be the most mundane of royal engagements—that image will sort of live on in the archives.”
In 2021, Jackson published a book of some of his most iconic photos of the late Queen titled Elizabeth II: A Queen For Our Time. And in Modern Majesty, Jackson shares a selection of some of his photos that reflect the balance between pomp, tradition and contemporary values. He tells Marie Claire that Queen Elizabeth “understood the power of the image.”
Queen Elizabeth, photographed by Chris Jackson, visits the Royal British Legion Industries village in 2019.
The late Queen attends church on Christmas 2015 in a photo taken by Chris Jackson.
“Photographs do form an important part of their history,” he says of the Royal Family, adding that photography “molds the public's perception” of the monarchy in a way that words cannot. “I think they understand that they've had good days with photographs and they've had very bad days with photographs,” Jackson admits.
Jackson says that as a photographer, it’s important for him to capture how the monarchy is moving with the times and show “quieter moments,” such as “King Charles feeding his chickens,” that make the royals human to the public.
“Whilst there is a pomp in the ceremony of events like Trooping the Colour and the horses, the military, the uniforms—that's all important and that forms an important part of of what it means to be the Royal Family,” he shares. “But at the same time, it's really important to me to try and capture those quieter moments that give you an insight into the personality behind the Crown, behind the crowds.”
