The book, a mammoth 366-page volume, weighing 5 kilos, is a veritable coffee-table centrepiece: it arrived in its own platinum coloured cardboard box, inscribed with the title wording and complete with plastic handle for ease of carrying around.
Published on 25 November 2012 in honour of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, it was intended as a celebration of "the extraordinary private and public life of Her Majesty [...] through hundreds of stunning photographs, many previously unseen and sourced from multiple archives in the United Kingdom (including the Royal Collection), Continental Europe, and the United States" (from the Taschen website).
The volume is indeed magnificent, featuring large scale photographs, both black and white and in colour, from the likes of Cecil Beaton, Lord Snowdon, Dorothy Wilding, Annie Leibovitz and many more, with trilingual captions documenting and illustrating the multi-faceted aspects of the Queen's life and reign, from her years as a young princess, then as a naval wife, mother and sovereign, over to contemporary events like the Diamond Jubilee celebrations and the iconic parachute jump at the London Olympics inaugural ceremony.
The book received unanimous enthusiastic reviews upon release (a selection of which you can find here) and will go on to become a heirloom piece to be passed down in the family (well, in my family for sure!).
It retails at $150, or £99.99, so it's definitely an investment piece, but right now you can buy it for a more affordable £59.99 on the Amazon UK website.
All photos from the TASCHEN website.
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