It is a picture that delighted the Queen’s admirers and brought smiles around the world. But the question everyone asked was: What on earth made Her Majesty’s Cabinet fall about laughing.
Now, a source has revealed what happened. It turns out that at the crucial moment Evening Standard chief photographer Jeremy Selwyn pressed his shutter, the Queen made a joke.
“We had been posing very formally for several shots, keeping absolutely rigid,” revealed the source. “Just as it was coming to the end the Queen suddenly broke the silence by saying, ‘you can all smile, you know!’.
“Of course, everyone laughed and looked at each other. But the Queen realised that the session was not over and she maintained her decorum.”
The result was yet another unique image for multiple award-winner Selwyn, 50, who has photographed the great and good for the Evening Standard for more than 25 years.
The shot taken yesterday at 10 Downing Street captured the monarch, relaxed and dignified, surrounded by the obviously affectionate senior ministers after 60 years on the throne.
Discreet as always, Selwyn refused repeated requests to reveal what caused such amusement in the Pillared Room. But he did disclose that the Queen is actually the easiest subject for a photographer. “The Queen was really, really nice to me and she made it amazingly easy,” said Selwyn.
“She is much easier than politicians, who are extremely difficult to photograph because they are more concerned with their image than with the truth.”
