Queen Elizabeth II : signed photograph (“Elizabeth R”), also signed by Prince Philip. 1954.

Gelatin silver print photograph, 200 x 150 mm, on its original plain card mount signed in fountain pen in the bottom margin by both Queen Elizabeth II (Elizabeth R) and Prince Philip (Philip) with the date 1954 in between the two signatures; the photograph is in fine condition; the royal signatures are both strong and unfaded; housed in the original glazed timber frame, the verso inscribed in a fully contemporary hand ‘Royal Visit, Feb. 1954’, and bearing the label of picture framer George Styles, Rowe Street, Sydney.

This portrait photograph of the British royal family shows, in an informal garden setting, the Queen and Prince Philip with their two children, five-year-old Prince Charles and Princess Anne aged two, and one of the Queen’s beloved corgis. It was almost certainly taken by Marcus Adams (1875-1959), who was the Royal Court photographer for thirty years between 1926 and 1956.

Protocol forbids members of the royal family from signing autographs; the signatures of Queen Elizabeth II and her immediate family members are therefore extremely rare. In fact, the signature of Queen Elizabeth II is one of the most valuable and sought after signatures of any person of the modern era.

Provenance: The signed photograph was presented to its original owner in Sydney during the Royal Visit to Australia by Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, 3 February – 1 April 1954.