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
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
King Edward VII, who ruled from 1901 to 1910, and Queen Alexandra are the great-grandparents of Queen Elizabeth II.
3. 1913
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
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
The royal family posing for an official portrait while celebrating the coronation of King George VI.
6.1942
Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Princess Elizabeth and King George VI posed for a family portrait at Buckingham Palace.
7. 1944
The future Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margarita posing with her mother in matching dresses.
8. 1945
Royalty posing for a family portrait outdoors.
9. 1947
The royal family posing with Philip Mountbatten in celebration of Philip and Elizabeth’s engagement.
10. 1947
Elizabeth and Philip at their wedding, which was celebrated at Westminster Abbey on November 20, 1947.
11. 1948
The royal family with Elizabeth, who held her first child, Prince Charles, in her arms.
12. 1953
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
Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth enjoying a picnic at Balmoral Castle with their three children: Prince Charles, Princess Anne and Prince Andrew.
14. 1970
Elizabeth and Philip posing with their two older children for a family portrait at Sandringham House.
15. 1971
A family image taken the day after Christmas in 1971 at Windsor Castle.
16. 1972
This family image was taken to celebrate the 25th wedding anniversary of the Queen and Prince Philip.
17. 1977
The queen posing with her daughter Ana and her first grandson, Peter Phillips.
18. 1980
Queen Elizabeth II, her mother and Princess Margarita posing for an official portrait.
19. 1981
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
Official photo after the Charles and Diana’s wedding on July 29, 1981 at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.
21. 1985
Prince Charles posing with his two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.
22. 1986
A family portrait of the princes of Wales with their children and their dog in Kensington Palace.
23. 1997
The royal family posing at 14-year-old Prince William’s confirmation.
24. 2003
Queen Elizabeth II posing with her son Charles and grandson William on their 50th anniversary of her coronation.
25. 2005
Nine years after divorcing Diana, Prince Charles posing with his new wife, Camilla Parker Bowles.
26. 2010
Prince William and Kate Middleton posing in their official engagement portrait.
27. 2011
Official family portrait of Prince William and Kate Middleton, now Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, after marrying at Westminster Abbey.
28. 2013
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge welcome their first child, Prince George, on July 22, 2013.
29. 2014
Prince George posing in his official Christmas portrait.
30. 2015
Prince George holding his newborn sister, Princess Charlotte, who was born on May 2, 2015.
31. 2015
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
Princess Charlotte playing with a stuffed animal in Anmer Hall in November 2015.
33. 2016
Prince George ready for his first day of kindergarten.
34. 2016
A portrait celebrating Princess Charlotte’s first birthday.
35. 2016
Prince George in a summer photo session at his family’s house in Norfolk in July 2016.
36. 2016
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge posing with Prince George and Princess Charlotte before reaching the French Alps ski slopes.
37. 2016
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
Official portrait of Princess Charlotte on her second birthday in May 2017.
39. 2017
Prince George celebrating his fourth birthday with an official portrait taken at Kensington Palace.
40. 2017
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary.
41. 2017
Portrait of Prince George’s first day of school in Thomas’s Battersea in London.
42. 2017
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge posing with their children at Kensington Palace for a new Christmas card.
43. 2017
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle posing for their official engagement portrait.
44. 2018
Adorable portrait of newborn Prince Louis. He’s the third son of Kate Middleton and William.
45. 2018
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex posing for their official wedding portraits in the Green Hall of Windsor Castle.
46. 2018
A portrait used to celebrate the engagement anniversary of the Dukes of Sussex.
47. 2018
Another photo from the series of official royal portraits of the Dukes of Sussex’s wedding, surrounded by their bridal party.
48. 2018
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
Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank posing for their wedding portrait.
50. 2018
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
Prince Charles celebrating his 70th birthday with his children, daughters-in-law and grandchildren.
52. 2018
Another family portrait of the Dukes of Cambridge to wish everyone a merry Christmas.
53. 2018
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
A portrait of Prince Louis to celebrate his first birthday.
55. 2019
Charlotte poses at her fourth birthday party.
56. 2019
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex showing their newborn baby at Windsor Castle.
57. 2019
Only a few weeks after the birth of Archie Harrison, Meghan Markle shared a sweet photo for her first Mother’s Day.
58. 2019
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex take a picture of their son in honor of Father’s Day.
59. 2019
A portrait of Archie Harrison’s christening at Buckingham Palace.
60. 2019
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
A portrait of Prince George in honor of his sixth birthday.
62. 2019
A new family portrait at Cambridge to celebrate Christmas.
63. 2020
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
A portrait of Kate Middleton at her home in Norfolk, Anmer Hall to celebrate her 38th birthday.