20+ Rarely Seen Photos of the British Royal Family Through the Years
Updated: Feb. 20, 2021In 1857, Queen Victoria posed for the first royal photo ever, and the world promptly fell in love with photographing royals. Here are some of the more memorable, yet less widely seen, photos of the royal family throughout the years.
The Queen (and her prince) near the end of the Victorian age
Here is Queen Victoria towards the end of her life (mid-1890s), seated at her desk, with a photograph of her beloved late husband, Prince Albert, who’d died in 1861. Victoria was quite sentimental about Albert, as well as about her beloved dog, Dash.
Edward VII before he became King
The next in line for the throne after Queen Victoria was her eldest son, born Albert Edward, who was nicknamed “Bertie.” He’s seen here in 1841, as a young man, with his wife, Princess Alexandra, and three of their six children: Princess Mary, Prince Albert Victor, and Prince George, who would later become King George V. Despite being the next in line for the throne, Bertie spent his pre-king years as a bit of a party-boy, much to his parents’ chagrin.
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George V, the Prince Harry of his time
King George V, pictured here around 1885, when he would have been 20 and was still Prince George, was the second-born son of King Edward VII, making George the “Prince Harry” of his time. Like Harry, George grew up having no expectation of becoming king. Fate had different plans, however.
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George V, with his older brother, Albert Victor
Sadly, George V’s older brother, Albert Victor (the “Prince William” of his time), died in 1892 at the age of 28 after a sudden and brief illness. So when Edward VII ascended to the throne in 1901, George was the next in line and was crowned king in 1910 upon his father’s death. In this photo, the brothers are still young boys.
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George V’s kids, including two future kings
The four eldest of King George V and his wife, Mary of Teck (known as Queen Mary) six children include David (usually known as “Edward,”) George V’s first-born son, who later became King Edward VIII in 1936 and then abdicated after only one year in order to marry American divorcée, Wallis Simpson, Albert (second-born son, who became King George VI after Edward VIII abdicated, and father of Queen Elizabeth II) Princess Mary, and Prince Henry.
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Future (and now former) King Edward VIII, with his great-grandmum, Victoria
Here, Queen Victoria poses with her two-year-old great-grandson, Prince Edward. As a result of the death of his uncle, Albert Victor, in 1892, the little boy beside Queen Victoria, stood third in line to the throne (after his grandfather, Edward VII, and his father, George V).
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Wallis Simpson, before she became the Duchess of Windsor
Wallis Simpson, the woman for whom King Edward VIII would abdicate the throne in 1936, just a year after ascending, is pictured here in 1928 when she was still married to her first husband, Naval Commander E. Winfield Spencer. She left her second husband, Ernest Simpson, to marry Edward, who had to renounce the throne in order to marry the twice-divorced American woman.
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Baby Queen Elizabeth II with her parents
On Queen Elizabeth II’s christening day in 1926, there was no reason for her parents to suspect their baby, Princess Elizabeth, would ever become queen—as her uncle, Edward, was next in line for the throne. That changed a decade later when King Edward VIII abdicated, and Elizabeth’s father, Albert, became King George VI.
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A big day for the future Queen Mum, the woman then known as the Duchess of York
This photo was taken on Dec. 10, 1936, in the aftermath of the breaking of the news that King Edward VIII had abdicated the throne. Suddenly, the Duchess of York (first name Elizabeth) was about to become the Queen Consort of her husband Albert, who would soon be styled as King George VI. And eventually, she would become the Queen Mother, since her daughter, Princess Elizabeth, was now the next in line to the throne.
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The future Queen riding her hobby horse
In this 1937 photo, Princess Elizabeth, who now knows that she will one day become Queen, plays on her hobby horse with her beloved younger sister, Princess Margaret Rose.
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A rare swimsuit photo of Elizabeth II
This photo of then-Princess Elizabeth in a “swimming costume” (as it’s called in England) was taken in 1938.
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Princess Elizabeth as a young mum
In this 1952 photo, the future Queen Elizabeth II is with her husband, who’d been named the Duke of Edinburgh the night before his wedding to Elizabeth, and their two eldest children, Prince Charles and Princess Anne. A year later, Queen Elizabeth will be crowned.
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Prince Charles, on his way to Gordonstoun
In 1962, a 13-year-old Prince Charles is on his way to his first term at Gordonstoun, the boarding school that he has since referred to as Colditz with Kilts and where his days started with a morning run and a cold shower. Queen Elizabeth II isn’t all that happy about this portion of her family’s life coming into public scrutiny.
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Princess Margaret with nephew, the Prince of Wales
Princess Margaret ended up in this candid shot of Prince Charles, Princess Diana, Prince Harry (in Diana’s arms), and Prince William. The family is about to board the Britannia for a Western Isles tour in the summer of 1985.
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Family fun at the water park
Here’s an adorable candid of Diana with her two princes in 1993.
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A somber moment
A week after the sudden death of Diana, Princess of Wales on Aug. 31, 1997, both William and Harry, wipe their eyes as they view tributes left in memory of their mum.
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Grandmum’s birthday
Prince William and Prince Harry pause as they leave St. George’s Chapel in Windsor after a special Thanksgiving service celebrating Queen Elizabeth II’s 80th birthday in 2006.
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Fergie’s girls
We don’t hear about them quite as much, but Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, the daughter of Prince Andrew, the Duke of York and his former wife, Sarah Ferguson, are much beloved by the Queen. Here they’re pictured at a ski resort in Switzerland as young girls.
Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie in Miami
This photo of the first cousins of Prince William and Prince Harry was taken in December 2017 in Miami, Florida.
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The Royal LOL
In this photo from October 2018, the Duchess of Cambridge loses her composure and totally LOLs beside her husband, Prince William (at the Global Ministerial Mental Health Summit, County Hall, London).
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Meghan on Bondi beach
Meghan and Harry were visiting Bondi Beach in 2018, where this adorable photo was taken. Who’d have guessed that, less than two years later, the couple would trade their royal duties for a new life in North America?
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Royally cute
Here are Princess Charlotte and Prince George, just before the wedding of their auntie, Princess Eugenie, to Jack Brooksbank, is about to begin on October 12, 2018.
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