07 March 2024 , 13:14
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The late Queen would often speak about her family in her addresses to the nation, crediting them for "the steadfast and loving support" over the course of her 70-year reign.
In a special message to mark her Platinum Jubilee celebration in 2022, she paid a loving tribute to her father King George VI, her beloved late-husband Prince Philip and their eldest son Prince Charles, as well as referencing the extended family.
So it was entirely fitting that a series of family photos were visible in the background of some official photographs shared to mark her historic reign. Buckingham Palace shared a number of snaps of the Queen looking through Jubilee gifts, cards, and memorabilia, which were taken in Windsor Castle's Oak Room.
The Palace shared this photo of the Queen in celebration of her Platinum Jubilee (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)And eagle-eyed fans were delighted to see a number of sweet photos on the table behind her, including a romantic engagement picture of Prince William and Kate Middleton.
It was one of a series the couple released to mark their engagement in 2010, and shows them in each other's arms as they smile straight into the camera. Kate's new engagement ring, which previously belonged to Princess Diana, is proudly on display.
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After vowing to keep his late mother involved in their big day, William asked her favourite photographer and good friend Mario Testino to do the photoshoot. And the end results were very different to the stiff, formal shots normally taken, instead showing the sweet romantic side of the couple's relationship.
William and Kate's engagement photo was taken by Mario Testino (Getty Images)Testino – who took pictures of the young princes growing up, and of Diana as she reinvented herself following her divorce – said: "They are in their prime and brimming with happiness. I have never felt so much joy as when I see them together. I am very happy to have been asked to cover this historic moment."
Other family photos on display behind the Queen included a snapshot of William together with his brother Harry, and another of Princess Beatrice and Eugenie.
It follows claims that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle reconsidered their roles within the royal family after becoming upset by the Queen's choice of photographs during her Christmas Day address in 2019.
As the monarch delivered her annual message from Buckingham Palace, there were four family snaps arranged on her desk - the Wales family, Prince Philip, Charles, Camilla and the Queen's father. The Sussexes were nowhere to be seen.
Harry and Meghan were upset to not have been included in the photo display"Harry felt as though he and Meghan had long been sidelined by the institution and were not a fundamental part of its future," Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durrand wrote in the book, Endgame. "One didn't have to look further than the family photos displayed during the Queen's Speech on Christmas Day.
"In the Green Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace, where the Queen delivered her address, viewers glimpsed photos of the Cambridges and their children, Charles and Camilla, Prince Philip and a black and white image of the sovereign's father, King George VI. Noticeably absent was a photo of Harry, Meghan and their new baby, Archie.
"Palace sources insisted that the photos were chosen to represent the direct line of succession, but for Harry and Meghan, it was yet another sign that they needed to consider their own path."