How The Queen Agreed To An 'Inappropriate' Photo Shoot

Queen Elizabeth II normally follows royal etiquette, but there was a time when she posed for the cameras for a photo shoot that was termed “inappropriate.” A new book about the British royals reveals the circumstances of how the monarch agreed to the shoot and posed like a regular model.

The new book by the Queen’s dressmaker Angela Kelly titled “The Other Side of the Coin, the Queen, the Dressmaker and the Wardrobe” gives new insights about the life inside the palace. In the book, Kelly revealed how she asked the monarch if she would be willing to be photographed informally, and she readily agreed, Express reported.

The Queen apparently knew that an informal shoot would result in an uproar, but she went ahead despite that. On the day of the shoot, she just started posing for the camera, putting her hands in her pockets and placing them on her hips, as she changed her stance. She was reportedly mimicking the style of professional models.

The shoot went ahead even though the Queen Mother and her aides believed such photos to be “inappropriate.” As expected, the photos were not appreciated in the palace, and some went to the extent of believing that such pictures could bring down the monarchy and should therefore not be released to the public.

As far as Kelly is concerned, she doesn’t know why people thought that candid pictures of the Queen could bring down the monarchy. Some of those never-before-seen photos have now been released to the public.

Some of the other interesting stories that are featured in the book include how the Queen agreed to appear in a short video with Daniel Craig as James Bond and how the monarch ignored royal protocol when she had her arm around the then First Lady Michelle Obama, CNN reported. Kelly also revealed a prank she played by placing a kookaburra toy in the balcony, and got jokingly “fired” for it.