GIVING INSIGHTS ON HER NEW BOOK ON ROYAL PHOTOGRAPHER SIR CECIL BEATON AUTHOR CLAUDIA ACOTT WILLIAMS REVEALS HOW HIS PORTRAITS RESHAPED THE MONARCHY'S IMAGE

He photographed the British royal family for half a century and his portraits of Elizabeth II are among the most famous ever taken of her.

Now British photographer Sir Cecil Beaton is the subject of a new book examining how he helped shape the public image of the House of Windsor.

Filled with stunning images from the collection of London’s V&A Museum and written by curator Claudia Acott Williams of Historic Royal Palaces, it offers a unique insight into his work and relationships with the royals.

Here, Claudia tells HELLO! how the photographer helped the royal family win hearts through his camera lens…

'Cecil Beaton was the most prolific chronicler of monarchy in the mid-20th century. Between 1927 and 1979, he photographed almost 50 members of the royal family and barely a year passed in which one member or other was not the subject of his beguiling lens.

Not only were h i s roya l commissions copious, but they also captured many of the most significant royal occasions, notably the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953, the first official photographs of all four of her children, and her sister Princess Margaret’s wedding.

His photographs were published in newspapers and fashion magazines across the world, were used to promote royal tours and given as mementos of royal visits. The most widely published official royal photographs of the time, they shaped the global image of the British monarchy.

Beaton’s painterly, romantic style played an important role in restoring the image of the monarchy after the abdication of Edward VIII in 1936, an event that fundamentally challenged the monarchy’s legitimacy and reputation at a time when many European monarchies had fallen.