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Cape Town - From stiff to snuggling! Prim to passionate! The official royal engagement snaps have come a long way in a few generations.
In the wake of the release of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s adorable, albeit slightly cheesy, official portraits to mark their engagement on Thursday, we take a look at the royal photographs of yesteryear.
1922 – King George VI and the Queen Mother
Then, Prince Albert and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, Queen Elizabeth’s parents maintained a very respectable distance from each other in their official photo. According to The Telegraph, Lady Elizabeth actually rejected Bertie, as the prince was then affectionately known, twice before agreeing to marry him, because she was reluctant to make the sacrifices that came with being a royal.
1947 – The Queen and Prince Philip
Before she became the ruler of the Commonwealth, a young Princess Elizabeth kept a safe distance from the future Duke of Edinburgh in their chaste engagement portrait, taken two years after the end of World War II.
1960 – Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones
The Queen’s sister’s official photographs when she became engaged to her photographer beau were slightly more relaxed, showing the pair strolling through the Kensington Palace grounds and smiling. Still no touching, though!
1973 – Princess Anne and Captain Mark Philips
Getting closer! Princess Anne was the first royal to hold her betrothed’s hand in their engagement snaps. But Queen Elizabeth’s youngest, later known as the Princess Royal, has always liked doing things a little differently. She famously declined her mother’s offer to make her firstborn, Zara Tindall, a princess when she was born, PEOPLE reports. Zara’s younger brother, Peter, also doesn’t have a title.
2010 – Prince William and Kate Middleton
The future Duke and Duchess of Cambridge couldn’t hide their joy in their sweet, snuggly, engagement snap. Their natural pose was wildly celebrated as a departure from the monarchy’s usual stiff-upper-lip approach.
2017 – Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
The newly engaged pair look completely smitten – and they aren’t afraid to show it! The red-haired prince and his Hollywood princess, in a gorgeous dress that cost an eye-watering £56 000 (that’s R956 000!) according to Daily Mail, clearly can’t get enough of each other.
Sources: Daily Mail, BBC, PEOPLE, The Telegraph
Photos: Getty Images, Kensington Palace
