Photograph of Queen Elizabeth II seated and facing the viewer. On her right stands Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales, later King Charles III, smiling down at the Queen and wearing double breasted black suit and tie. 3/4 length group portrait.

Released as part of Queen Elizabeth II’s 90th official birthday celebrations, this photograph presents both mother and son, monarch and heir. The portrait was taken in the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle, before the queen’s attendance of the final night at the Royal Windsor Horse Show by Nick Knight, an influential fashion and advertising photographer The plain backdrop has been digitally enhanced to suggest symbolically the idea of both dawn and dusk. Knight said that he wanted to create something that showed ‘warmth, humanity … strength and tradition’, all of which are evident in this composition.

While a chromogenic print is created through light exposure and chemical development, a pigment print, such as this one, is produced by pigments transferred directly onto a paper surface.