Photographer Lord Lichfield's portraits on show
- Published
Rarely-seen pictures created by royal photographer Patrick Lichfield have gone on display.
Lord Lichfield, whose career spanned 40 years, photographed many celebrities and was known for creating relaxed portraits of film stars and royalty including the Queen captured here off-duty on the Royal yacht Britannia.
As the Queen's first cousin-once-removed, his first pictures of the Queen were taken while he was a schoolboy at Harrow, during a cricket match against Eton.
In the exhibition at Mottisfont, near Romsey in Hampshire, the 50 mounted photographs, which were taken by the late photographer from the 1960s onwards, show celebrities behind the scenes like Mick and Bianca Jagger laughing in their wedding car.
Louise Govier, curator of Mottisfont's gallery said Lord Lichfield "really knew how to get his celebrity subjects to relax and be themselves, or express something fresh and unexpected".
"It's amazing to think that there has never been an exhibition before that just focused on his iconic photographs of famous faces," she added.
Lord Lichfield first picked up a camera when he was seven, photographing his family and pets at home at Shugborough Hall in Staffordshire and started his career as a photographer's assistant on £3 a week.
He was the official wedding photographer at the wedding of Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer in 1981.
His informal approach saw him use a whistle to keep the Royal Family in order.
Here the newlyweds and the royal wedding party are seen at Buckingham Palace after the ceremony.
In this picture HRH Princess Margaret peers over a hedge at the wedding of Sheran Cazalet and Simon Hornby at Fairlawn in Sussex, in June 1968.
In this image the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh are seen in profile at Buckingham Palace. The picture was taken on 26 November 2001 to commemorate the Golden Jubilee in 2002.
Lord Lichfield died at the age of 66 in 2005 after suffering a major stroke.
The portraits will be on show at the gallery in Mottisfont until 21 April.