Four Generations Of The Royal Family Pose For A New Photograph

Four generations of the British royal family have posed for a photograph to commemorate the 90th birthday of the monarch. The photograph brings together four different generations of the Royal Family, including Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Prince William, and Prince George.

As reported by Time, the new photograph, released on Tuesday, brings together the four heirs to the throne in a glowing portrait of the royal family. While being used as an updated portrait of the core royal family, the photograph is also set to appear on a new British stamp that will be released to commemorate the Queen’s 90th birthday. This particular photograph of the royals is reported to have been taken last summer in the White Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace.

The portrait, which was photographed by Ranald Mackechnie, brings together Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Prince William, and Prince George, all grinning for the new stamp. Looking particularly content is young Prince George, now 2-years-old, as he stands on a small stack while holding his father’s hand. Interestingly, the photograph focuses on the core of the royal family, or the heirs to the throne as they’re known, with Prince George’s mother, Kate Middleton and sister Princess Charlotte both absent from the photograph, along with the Queen’s husband, Prince Phillip and Prince Charles’ wife, the Duchess of Cornwall.

According to the Telegraph, the photograph was taken secretly last summer and will be Prince George’s first official stamp appearance. While the young Prince is often described by his mother to be a bit naughty, the photographer taking this particular shot of the royal family spoke of how well behaved George was. Ranald Mackechnie spoke about how the prince was a charming young man and was very fascinated by the photographer’s equipment.

“He was absolutely charming, as you can see from the picture. You only have a short window of opportunity with small children, but Prince George was on good form and everyone seemed to enjoy seeing him enjoy the day.

“He was fascinated by my lights and all the kit, and he was quite happy standing on the blocks. I took maybe 80 or 100 shots, but when I saw this one I knew straight away that was it.”

Such was the secrecy of this photo of the royal family that Mackechnie, asked by the Royal Mail to take the shot, didn’t even tell his wife. It will be used as one of a number of different stamps that will be released to commemorate the 90th birthday of the current head of the Royal Family, Queen Elizabeth II. Alongside the stamps produced from this portrait, there will also be six different shots of the Queen from across the decades, from her youth through to the present day.

.@RoyalMailStamps have issued a further 6 Special Stamps to honour HM's family life and official role #Queenat90 pic.twitter.com/TIcl7NGNwR

— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) April 20, 2016

Getting this photo of the royal family perfect was a pretty difficult job. As each of the heads in the photograph would need to fit perfectly onto a stamp, Mackechnie had to be sure that he had each member of the royal family in exactly the right spot. With that in mind, he had to meticulously prepare for the photograph, even obtaining Prince George’s exactly height from the royal family so that he’d be on an equal standing with the other family members.

The portrait of the royal family didn’t go without a hitch, though. Mackechnie recalls that a computer glitch stalled progress. However, Prince Charles was said to have been incredibly sympathetic towards the photographer before he managed to restore a back-up. Taking a photograph of four generations of the royal family may not sound like an awfully difficult task, but it’s definitely one that requires a good deal of attention to detail.

[Photo by Ranald Mackechnie/Getty Images]