Dorothy Wilding became the first female photographer to take pictures of royalty. Her portraits of the new Queen Elizabeth II marked the first official portraits of the new reign, but her history with the Royal Family extended back to the 1920s.
Wilding set up a studio in London in the late ‘20s and her first experience with royalty came when Prince George—who later became the Duke of Kent—sat for a portrait in 1928. In 1934, she took the official engagement photos for Prince George and his fiancée Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark.
(Public Domain, Wiki Commons)
In 1937, she was the first woman appointed as Official Royal Photographer of the Coronation. She’d previously photographed the then-Duchess of York and combined that image with one of her husband to create a double portrait of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth that was used as a commemorative stamp for their Coronation.
Her studio even photographed Wallis Warfield Simpson in 1935, before the Abdication crisis. Wilding was away from the studio that day, so didn’t actually take the pictures of Wallis, but Edward (then Prince of Wales) was with her, and a photograph from this session inspired the Time cover when she was selected as Woman of the Year in 1936.
In 1952, Wilding photographed Elizabeth II, in a sitting that was used to produce the image of the new Queen on coins, stamps, and banknotes. A majority of the stamps were in use in the UK from 1952 to 1967; while in Canada, they were used from 1954 to 1962. Another portrait featured Queen Elizabeth II in a three-quarter pose and was used on stamps until 1971 and became known by the shorthand ‘Wildings.’
Another portrait from this sitting became Queen Elizabeth II’s official portrait and was sent to every British Embassy around the world.
According to the Royal Collection Trust, Wilding’s portraits were iconic because of “the use of a plain black or white backdrop ensures that all attention focuses on the sitter.”
The photos taken by Wilding showed Queen Elizabeth II in a variety of gowns designed by Norman Hartnell, who had created her wedding dress and was responsible for her Coronation gown. The gems she wore became among the most symbolic of her reign and included the George IV State Diadem and the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara
