Photographer Who Took Queen’s Last Pics Just Days Before Describes The Encounter

Queen Elizabeth II welcomed Liz Truss as the UK’s new prime minister at Balmoral Castle last Tuesday. Photographer Jane Barlow of the Press Association was there to chronicle this historic event that saw Truss formally appointed as head of government.

During the short while Barlow and the monarch had spent together as they awaited the arrival of the new PM, they’d share a few sweet moments alone. Little did Barlow know she’d be among the last to meet the Queen, who passed away two days later on September 8 at Balmoral Castle.

The photographer took the last-known photos of the 96-year-old royal, who’d been British monarch for a record seven decades. Telling the Daily Mail, Barlow recalled the Queen as “very smiley” and “in very good spirits,” though she was “frail,” of course.

Queen Elizabeth also made comments about the weather and how gloomy it was outside.

The last-known portrait of the Queen by herself shows the sovereign standing in a grand room, with a stick supporting her. It was one of Barlow’s favorite photos from that day, as it captured “a nice natural moment” in which the royal simply looked up and smiled.

“It wasn’t posed at all,” the photographer emphasized.

Later, when Truss arrived, Barlow snapped an image of the Queen shaking the prime minister’s hands.

“I got lots of smiles from [Queen Elizabeth],” Barlow remembered from the day.

[via PetaPixel, Cosmopolitan, Mail Online, images via various sources]