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Cecil Beaton (British, 1904-1980); The Queen with her Maids of Honour; image 1
Cecil Beaton (British, 1904-1980); The Queen with her Maids of Honour; image 2
Cecil Beaton (British, 1904-1980); The Queen with her Maids of Honour; image 3
Lady Glenconner: My Life in Objects
Lot 20AR

Cecil Beaton
(British, 1904-1980)
The Queen with her Maids of Honour

Amended
19 November 2025, 14:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street

£700 - £1,000

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Cecil Beaton (British, 1904-1980)

The Queen with her Maids of Honour, 2 June 1953
Bromide print, mounted to card, the card signed by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
image 23.9cm x 18.7cm
sheet 30.5cm x 25.5

Footnotes

Provenance
Presented to Lady Glenconner by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II following a fire at Glen, which was thought to have destroyed the first photograph given by The Queen to Lady Glenconner after the Coronation.

Cecil Beaton was selected as the official photographer for Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation in 1953, and here decided to place the Maids of Honour in the same order as they were standing during the ceremony at Westminster Abbey.

Aside from Lady Glenconner, then Lady Anne Coke, who can be seen second from left, the other Maids of Honour were: Lady Moyra Hamilton (now Lady Moyra Campbell); Lady Rosemary Spencer-Churchill (now Lady Rosemary Muir); Lady Vane-Tempest-Stewart (now Lady Rayne); Lady Mary Baillie-Hamilton (now Lady Mary Russell); and Lady Jane Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby (now The Baroness Willoughby de Eresby).

Of her part in the ceremony, Lady Glenconner wrote: 'As I stood behind [the Queen], I felt so unbelievably lucky. There I was, just happening to be the right person, in the right place, at the right time, quite literally attached to the Queen...I can vividly remember how amazing it felt to be part of that moment.'

For a similar example see The National Portrait Gallery, London, NPG P1454.

Literature
Anne Glenconner, Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown, Hodder & Staughton, London, 2019, pp.59-80.

Saleroom notices

This photograph was given to Lady Glenconner by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II circa 1985, following a fire at Glen which was thought to have destroyed the first photograph given by The Queen to Lady Glenconner after the Coronation. This replacement was organised by Princess Margaret, however Bonhams cannot guarantee that the signature was not done by autopen.

Additional information