Signed portrait of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother with her pages on the day of Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation.

Part of Cecil Beaton’s Coronation commission (see RCIN 2999885) included photographing all the other members of the Royal Family. He adopted a similar set up with a painted backdrop and prop curtains to frame the sitters. Beaton recalled the manic activity to produce results within a very limited time: ‘I was banging away and getting pictures at a great rate; but I had only the foggiest notion of whether I was taking black and white, or colour, or giving the right exposures.’ He found support in The Queen Mother, whom he described as ‘the great mother figure and nannie to us all’. ‘Suddenly I felt as if all my anxieties and fears were dispelled … suddenly I had this wonderful accomplice … all at once, and because of her, I was enjoying my work.’