The Queen possessed a special charm, says a longtime royal photographer.
“She was iconic,” Chris Jackson, a photographer who has snapped the royal family for over 20 years, told Page Six exclusively.
“She would have this incredible aura when she entered the room,” he explained. “As someone who spent a lot of time in her presence, I certainly felt the change in the room when she arrived. And that was clear.”
Jackson added that, for most people, meeting the monarch was probably one of the most exciting days in their life, but for her, “it was just another day in the office.”
“It was never a dull day when you got the opportunity for a queen. She just had this incredible presence and was so characterful for the camera and it was fantastic face to face.”
One of Jackson’s favorite images of the Queen is when he shot her working on her famous daily “red box” at Sandringham Castle.
“She gets these red boxes every day of the year apart from Easter and Christmas,” he explained. “I really like that photo. She just looked so happy at that moment and she was working until the very end….I think that commitment and duty, that she was always focused on the task, focused on the person she was talking to, is quite unique.”
The Queen died “peacefully” at Balmoral Castle on Thursday.
Her eldest son, Charles — who immediately became King Charles III — called his mother “an inspiration and example” to himself and other family members in a pre-recorded speech on Friday.