Now they even use Instagram to share their photos.
Like many royalty customs, the royal portrait is one that has survived over the centuries. However, many others have been modified or disappeared over the more than eight generations of the British royal family.
And it is precisely those portraits that show the biggest changes…
After such a long time, royalty has had to reinvent itself and adapt several times to their context in order to stay current:
1. 1861
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Queen Victoria – the great grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II – was the first monarch to integrate photography into her reign to make it accessible to the public.
2. 1919
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King Edward VII, who ruled from 1901 to 1910, and Queen Alexandra are the great-grandparents of Queen Elizabeth II.
3. 1913
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King George V was the grandfather of Elizabeth II and ruled Britain from 1910 until his death in 1936. In this picture, he appears with his wife, Queen Mary.
4. 1926
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George, the Duke of York and future King George VI with his wife Elizabeth, welcoming their first daughter and future queen, Princess Elizabeth.
5. 1937
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The royal family posing for an official portrait while celebrating the coronation of King George VI.
6.1942
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Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Princess Elizabeth and King George VI posed for a family portrait at Buckingham Palace.
7. 1944
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The future Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margarita posing with her mother in matching dresses.
8. 1945
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Royalty posing for a family portrait outdoors.
9. 1947
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The royal family posing with Philip Mountbatten in celebration of Philip and Elizabeth’s engagement.
10. 1947
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Elizabeth and Philip at their wedding, which was celebrated at Westminster Abbey on November 20, 1947.
11. 1948
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The royal family with Elizabeth, who held her first child, Prince Charles, in her arms.
12. 1953
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A year after the death of her father, King George VI, Elizabeth ascended to the throne. This image is from the day of her coronation with her husband, sister and mother.
13. 1960
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Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth enjoying a picnic at Balmoral Castle with their three children: Prince Charles, Princess Anne and Prince Andrew.
14. 1970
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Elizabeth and Philip posing with their two older children for a family portrait at Sandringham House.
15. 1971
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A family image taken the day after Christmas in 1971 at Windsor Castle.
16. 1972
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This family image was taken to celebrate the 25th wedding anniversary of the Queen and Prince Philip.
17. 1977
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The queen posing with her daughter Ana and her first grandson, Peter Phillips.
18. 1980
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Queen Elizabeth II, her mother and Princess Margarita posing for an official portrait.
19. 1981
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Lady Diana Spencer, later known as Diana, Princess of Wales, and Prince Charles pose in front of Buckingham Palace to celebrate their engagement.
20. 1981
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Official photo after the Charles and Diana’s wedding on July 29, 1981 at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.
21. 1985
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Prince Charles posing with his two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.
22. 1986
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A family portrait of the princes of Wales with their children and their dog in Kensington Palace.
23. 1997
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The royal family posing at 14-year-old Prince William’s confirmation.
24. 2003
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Queen Elizabeth II posing with her son Charles and grandson William on their 50th anniversary of her coronation.
25. 2005
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Nine years after divorcing Diana, Prince Charles posing with his new wife, Camilla Parker Bowles.
26. 2010
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Prince William and Kate Middleton posing in their official engagement portrait.
27. 2011
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Official family portrait of Prince William and Kate Middleton, now Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, after marrying at Westminster Abbey.
28. 2013
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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge welcome their first child, Prince George, on July 22, 2013.
29. 2014
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Prince George posing in his official Christmas portrait.
30. 2015
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Prince George holding his newborn sister, Princess Charlotte, who was born on May 2, 2015.
31. 2015
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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge take this portrait with their two children at the end of October 2015 to use on their Christmas card.
32. 2015
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Princess Charlotte playing with a stuffed animal in Anmer Hall in November 2015.
33. 2016
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Prince George ready for his first day of kindergarten.
34. 2016
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A portrait celebrating Princess Charlotte’s first birthday.
35. 2016
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Prince George in a summer photo session at his family’s house in Norfolk in July 2016.
36. 2016
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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge posing with Prince George and Princess Charlotte before reaching the French Alps ski slopes.
37. 2016
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The Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Charles, the Queen, Prince Philip, Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge posing for a photo at Buckingham Palace before the annual evening reception for members of the Diplomatic Corps.
38. 2017
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Official portrait of Princess Charlotte on her second birthday in May 2017.
39. 2017
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Prince George celebrating his fourth birthday with an official portrait taken at Kensington Palace.
40. 2017
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Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary.
41. 2017
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Portrait of Prince George’s first day of school in Thomas’s Battersea in London.
42. 2017
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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge posing with their children at Kensington Palace for a new Christmas card.
43. 2017
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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle posing for their official engagement portrait.
44. 2018
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Adorable portrait of newborn Prince Louis. He’s the third son of Kate Middleton and William.
45. 2018
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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex posing for their official wedding portraits in the Green Hall of Windsor Castle.
46. 2018
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A portrait used to celebrate the engagement anniversary of the Dukes of Sussex.
47. 2018
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Another photo from the series of official royal portraits of the Dukes of Sussex’s wedding, surrounded by their bridal party.
48. 2018
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Prince William and Kate Middleton celebrating the baptism of their third child, Prince Louis, alongside Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, Prince Charles and Camilla in a room at Clarence House.
49. 2018
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Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank posing for their wedding portrait.
50. 2018
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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle greeting supporters from their hotel balcony in Fiji, one of the stops on their first royal tour as a married couple.
51. 2018
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Prince Charles celebrating his 70th birthday with his children, daughters-in-law and grandchildren.
52. 2018
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Another family portrait of the Dukes of Cambridge to wish everyone a merry Christmas.
53. 2018
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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex shared a never-before-seen portrait of their wedding at Frogmore House as their first Christmas card together.
54. 2019
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A portrait of Prince Louis to celebrate his first birthday.
55. 2019
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Charlotte poses at her fourth birthday party.
56. 2019
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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex showing their newborn baby at Windsor Castle.
57. 2019
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Only a few weeks after the birth of Archie Harrison, Meghan Markle shared a sweet photo for her first Mother’s Day.
58. 2019
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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex take a picture of their son in honor of Father’s Day.
59. 2019
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A portrait of Archie Harrison’s christening at Buckingham Palace.
60. 2019
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In honor of Prince Charles’s 71st birthday, the Dukes of Sussex shared a photo on their Prince of Wales Instagram account of Prince Harry and Archie on the day of his baptism in June.
61. 2019
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A portrait of Prince George in honor of his sixth birthday.
62. 2019
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A new family portrait at Cambridge to celebrate Christmas.
63. 2020
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To celebrate the new year and the beginning of a new decade, the palace released a portrait of the royal family’s line of succession in 2020, with the Queen, Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince George.
64. 2020
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A portrait of Kate Middleton at her home in Norfolk, Anmer Hall to celebrate her 38th birthday.