V&A Opens Cecil Beaton Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Exhibition [SLIDESHOW]

Photos: V&A Opens Cecil Beaton Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Exhibition [SLIDESHOW]

By Monami Thakur | Feb 08, 2012 06:08 AM EDT

The Victoria & Albert Museum is showcasing an exclusive exhibition by renowned photographer Cecil Beaton to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. The exhibition titled "Queen Elizabeth II by Cecil Beaton: A Diamond Jubilee Celebration" will depict the Queen in her roles as princess, monarch and mother and include a number of never-before-seen photographs, as well as excerpts from Beaton's diaries and letters.

Photographer, designer and avid diarist, Beaton's royal portraits were reportedly among the most widely published photographs of the 20th century.

The Queen was just a teenage princess when she first sat for taking her picture with Beaton in the year 1942. Over the next three decades, Beaton photographed the Queen on many significant occasions including her Coronation Day.

The current exhibition coincides with the Diamond Jubilee of the Queen and will feature around 100 exclusive portraits. This will include wartime photos of Princess Elizabeth with her family, tender images of the Queen with her own young children and official portraits that convey the magnitude of her role as Britain's monarch.

The V&A has the oldest museum photography collection in the world and holds the UK's national collection of photography. The present exhibition has been curated by Susanna Brown and will demonstrate how Beaton controlled the use of his photographs, revealing the press embargo, cropping instructions and notes on the sitting scribbled on the reverse of his extensively published image of the Queen and newborn Prince Andrew from March 1960.

Take a look at some of the highlights of the exhibition in the pictures given below: