Queen Elizabeth IIappears ontwo new coversof this week’s PEOPLE — and the iconic images reflect very different periods in her life.
Thelongest reigning British monarchdied on Thursday, Buckingham Palace announced. She was 96.
One PEOPLE cover features a vintage portrait of the monarch, who was Princess Elizabeth at the time. It dates back to 1951, the year before she took the throne. In the classic photo, she wears a white satin dress with a statement diamond necklace and diamond earrings. Her ensemble was made complete with a tiara.
Six years later, the Queen delivered a touching speech during a Christmas broadcast, telling her subjects in 1957, “I cannot lead you into battle. I do not give you laws or administer justice, but I can do something else: I can give my heart and my devotion to these old islands and to all the peoples of our brotherhood of nations.”
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Thesignificant storybehind the photo used to announce the Queen’s death has also been shared.
The image was also featured in the Royal Collection Trust’s exhibitThe Queen: 60 Photographs for 60 Yearscelebrating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012.Queen Elizabethwas only the second British monarch to reach that anniversary, following her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria (1837 – 1901), who celebrated her own Diamond Jubilee in 1897.
RELATED VIDEO: The Amazing Life ofQueen ElizabethII
Royal Collection Trust recognized Bown for her “unpretentious technique, working at speed, using only available light, and for working in black and white rather than color.”
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But the loss was most profound for her large family, including her four children, eight grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
source: people.com
