Vanity Fair: Queen Elizabeth II Appears On The Magazine’s Cover Alongside Royal Family Portraits


The latest issue of Vanity Fair sees the magazine publish a touching tribute to British monarch Queen Elizabeth II on her 90th birthday. In an incredibly special edition of the magazine, the Queen sat down for a portrait to be used on the magazine’s cover, with her beloved corgis. At the same time, a large portion of the magazine was dedicated to the British Royal Family, with tributes and a series of portraits contained within the issue.

According to Observer, for her Vanity Fair cover, Queen Elizabeth II chose not to share the stage with one of her children or grandchildren, but instead her beloved corgis. The British monarch is well known for her love of corgis, so it offers little surprise that the cover of this edition of Vanity Fair is littered with them.

Queen Elizabeth II on the cover of Vanity Fair
[Image via Vanity Fair]
The exclusive cover was shot for Vanity Fair by Annie Leibovitz to commemorate the Queen’s 90th birthday. Annie Leibovitz is a name that many will know for her various shots of the British monarch throughout her reign. Aside from gracing the cover of Vanity Fair, there’s plenty of royal-related content throughout the magazine also, including an extensive feature from the magazine about the Queen’s long reign and everything she’s achieved throughout that reign.

As reported by the Telegraph, whilst each of the four furry friends featured on the cover portrait appears to be corgis, that’s not strictly true. Sitting with the Queen are her two pedigree corgis, Holly and Willow. However, also shown in the photograph are the Queen’s two “dorgis”. Vulcan and Candy are part of a crossbreed developed by Queen Elizabeth II herself when one of her corgis mated with a dachshund that belonged to her sister, Princess Margaret. Since then, the Queen has personally overseen the breeding of “dorgis”.


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Unknown to many, the Queen actually had a fair amount of creative input into the shoot. According to the photographer who took the portrait shot, Queen Elizabeth II had very clear ideas about how she wanted to the photograph to be taken, with the idea that the corgis should feature in the cover shot being completely her own.

Whilst the Queen was keen that it was her four-legged friends that appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair, she didn’t wish for the rest of the royal family to be missed out. With that in mind, inside this particular edition of the magazine, there’s also plenty of shots of the British monarch alongside her closest family members. The photographer spoke about how “She wanted to be photographed with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren; her husband, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh; her daughter, Anne, the Princess Royal; and her corgis.”

Most prominently, the magazine includes a piece from William Shawcross, the royal biographer. In his piece, he spoke about how drastically the country has changed since Queen Elizabeth II came to power in 1952, but how the monarch has remained a constant in British life. According to Shawcross, the Queen understands the responsibilities of her office, telling readers that she has turned the monarchy into a “small voice of calm to which people turn for reassurance in social and political storms”.

Queen Elizabeth II is celebrating her 90th birthday this year, with the United Kingdom planning for a summer of celebration. However, the royal family is clearly keen for fans across the world to enjoy the occasion too, as is testament by the Queen’s appearance on the cover of Vanity Fair.

[Photo by Pool/Getty Images]

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