In honor of the Queen’s 90th birthday, the magazine tasked Annie Leibovitz to photograph her at Windsor Castle.
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Leibovitz said that, as might be expected, the Queen had her own views about how the photographs should be taken.
Some images from the resulting portfolio, including the memorable shot of her great granddaughter Mia Tindall holding her handbag in a family tableau, have already been published.
The Duke of Edinburgh also posed with the Queen for the photographer, with that picture to appear in the magazine alongside the three official images.
‘She wanted to be photographed with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren; her husband, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh; her daughter, Anne, the Princess Royal; and her corgis’.
Two of the queen’s corgis are called Holly and Willow, while Vulcan and Candy are technically dorgis, who came about after a dachshund belonging to the queen’s sister Princess Margaret mated with one of the royal household’s corgis.
The photographer says the Queen was “in control”, and the poses were all her idea.
This is just one of a series of photos to mark the Queen’s 90th birthday.
All of the new photos were included in a slideshow of photos Leibovitz has taken over the past decade at Windsor Castle.
She added: ‘I was told how relaxed she was at Windsor, and it was really true.
Group photographs were also taken with her great-grandchildren, including George and Charlotte.
“Now the beloved castle is an oasis of peace in her still unbelievably busy official life”.
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Although she has carefully overseen a programme of breeding since 1949, starting with her first puppy, Susan, there has been no breeding since the birth of Holly and Willow, the year after the Queen Mother’s death in 2002.
