Royal family share touching previously unseen picture of the late Queen on social media as they mark first  anniversary of her passing

• The late Queen, who died on 8 September 2022, can be seen beaming in photo
• Read more: King Charles pays moving tribute to Queen Elizabeth II 

The royal family have shared a touching previously unseen picture of the late Queen on social media as they mark the first anniversary of her passing.

The image of Queen Elizabeth was taken at Buckingham Palace when she was just 42 in October 1968 by Cecil Beaton.

A number of images from the set have previously been shared, but the photograph, which shows the Queen dressed in a lilac dress and beaming at the camera, is believed to be new. 

The image was shared on the royal family’s official social media page today, alongside the words: ‘In loving and everlasting memory.’

The caption continued: ‘Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, 21st April 1926 – 8th September 2022.’

The royal family have shared a touching previously unseen picture of the late Queen on social media as they mark the one year anniversary of her passing

The image was shared on the royal family’s official social media page today, alongside the words: ‘In loving and everlasting memory’

One image from the set is on display at the National Portrait Gallery, and shows the Queen smiling.

The photographs show the late monarch wearing the Cambridge pearl pendant brooch.

The historic brooch, over 140 years old, originally belonged to Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel, the wife of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge before being passed down to Queen Elizabeth from her grandmother.

Queen Elizabeth famously wore the piece for a portrait on her 50th birthday at Windsor Castle, on the 21st April, 1976 and, earlier, for a Christmas broadcast in 1971.

The monarch also wore the brooch in 2019 during a reception at Buckingham Palace to mark the work of The Queen’s Trust and while welcoming the Peruvian ambassador at the palace in 2018.

The King today paid a moving tribute to his adored mother as the nation marks the first anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s death.

In an unprecedented break with tradition, signifying how touched he has been by the country’s grief at her passing but also pride in a remarkable life of public duty, His Majesty recalled his mother’s ‘long life, devoted service and all she meant to so many of us’.

Initially Charles, 74, had planned only to mark his mother’s death – and his own grief-tinged accession – in ‘quiet contemplation’ at home in Scotland.

In doing so he would follow the same pattern that Queen Elizabeth chose to adopt for 70 years, marking her father King George VI’s death, at Sandringham in Norfolk, away from public gaze.

But in recent weeks he began to have a change of heart, having been so deeply touched by the global outpouring of grief after his mother died on September 8 last year.

Indeed, the Mail can reveal that the King and Queen Camilla chose last night not to return to their own home at Birkhall on the Balmoral estate as planned, but to remain at the castle itself where Elizabeth died at the age of 96, surrounded by the glory of the Scottish Highlands she adored.

They will remain there today, comforted by some of those who were closest to Her late Majesty, spending tonight there as well, before moving back to their neighbouring estate. A source said: ‘I think it will be of comfort to be surrounded by so much that was familiar to her.’

The King today paid a moving tribute to his adored mother as the nation marks the first anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s death

Meanwhile, the Prince and Princess of Wales are to mark the first anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s death with a small private service in Wales. William and Kate will attend St Davids Cathedral in St Davids, the smallest city in Britain, in Pembrokeshire on Friday. They will also meet members of the local community in the adjacent cloister, including local people who met Elizabeth II during her visits to St Davids.

St Davids has been a site of pilgrimage and worship for more than 1,400 years, since St David – the patron saint of Wales – settled there with his monastic community in the sixth century.

Since the Reformation, one of the quire stalls has been in the possession of the Crown and is known as the Sovereign’s Stall. This makes St Davids the only UK cathedral where the sovereign has a special stall in the quire among members of the chapter, the governing body of the cathedral.

Elizabeth II was the first monarch to visit St Davids Cathedral since the Reformation when she arrived at the site with her husband, the late Duke of Edinburgh, during a royal tour to Wales in August 1955 following her coronation. 

In his message, Charles said: ‘In marking the first anniversary of Her late Majesty’s death and my Accession, we recall with great affection her long life, devoted service and all she meant to so many of us.

‘I am deeply grateful, too, for the love and support that has been shown to my wife and myself during this year as we do our utmost to be of service to you all.’

It was signed Charles R and accompanied by a portrait chosen by the King that has never been released before to the general public. The photograph was taken at Buckingham Palace on October 16, 1968, as part of an official sitting granted to the legendary Cecil Beaton – the last he was to ever undertake with Her late Majesty before he died.

It was shown at the National Portrait Gallery the following month but has not been on public release before now.

The King apparently selected the photograph because of the ‘lovely’ – and slightly mischievous – look in the eyes of his mother, who was 42 at the time.

Source: Read Full Article