Royal Photographer Explains Why Queen Elizabeth II Is ‘Hard’ To Photograph

Royal photographer Chris Jackson recently explained why it’s hard to take pictures of Queen Elizabeth II.

While speaking with the Huffington Post, the photographer said that it’s very seldom for the queen to smile. “She’s not always smiling. In fact, you can go a whole event where she’s not smiling. She doesn’t always make it easy for you. But I like that,” he said.

Jackson has been taking pictures of the royal years for several years now. He just got married to Middleton’s stylist and was also the photographer behind Prince George’s birthday portrait.

If Queen Elizabeth is quite “hard” to photograph because she isn’t always smiling, Jackson gushed over Prince Harry and his “touchy feely” nature. The royal photographer said that Prince Harry hugs a lot of people so the challenge is on how he can still capture his face while he’s hugging someone else.

Jackson also talked about the first time that Queen Elizabeth II did not lay a wreath at the cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday last year. Her son, Prince Charles, took over the role on her behalf. Even though her majesty did not go to the cenotaph, she was photographed by Jackson with so much emotion on her face.

“Quite often, you’ll find photos where they’re clearly not shedding a tear or crying but they might touch their eye… and people say, ‘Oh, a member of the royal family is crying. But at that moment, you did sense there really was a moment of passing the baton on. She did look a bit sad,” he said.

Jackson was also the one who photographed Prince Harry with Meghan Markle at the Invictus Games last year. At that time, fans knew that they were an item, but nothing has been made official yet. He might also take the couple’s wedding pictures on May 19 just like what he did for Prince William and Kate Middleton.

The royal photographers are part of Getty’s 80-million picture archives and may be used or downloaded for a fee.