Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (1926–2022) was the eldest of the two daughters of the Duke and Duchess of York, who became King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. Born in London, she was ten years old when the abdication of her uncle, Edward VIII, and her father’s accession to the throne made her heir presumptive. At 21 she married Philip Mountbatten, who was created HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. In 1952, they set out on a tour of the Commonwealth which was to have included Australia and New Zealand; but on the way, in Kenya, Elizabeth received news of her father’s death. Her coronation took place on 2 June 1953. In 2015, she surpassed the record set by her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria to become Britain’s longest reigning monarch; and on 6 February 2022 she became the first ever British monarch to mark a Platinum Jubilee.
Melbourne-born Polly Borland was one of few photographers commissioned to take a portrait for Her Majesty’s Golden Jubilee in 2002. Borland was allowed five minutes for the shoot, which was to start as soon as the Queen was in front of the camera. ‘All of a sudden, I see this woman, who’s a lot more petite than I’d imagined, a lot more beautiful than I’d imagined, a lot richer than I’d imagined’, Borland says. ‘I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t remember anything’. Nevertheless, she shot two rolls of film in three minutes, resulting in two portraits. Both are now iconic for their witty, contemporary aesthetic, although the artist still thinks ‘it’s a miracle I got two good photos’.
Purchased 2021
© Polly Borland
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