Picture of Queen Elizabeth II that royal aides feared would ‘take monarchy down’ has been released

A newly-released picture of Queen Elizabeth II has surprised royal fans all over world, as the monarch is seen in an informal pose – something she’d never done for a royal portrait before.

• The picture of the Queen was taken in 2012, but only now published for the world to see.
• The monarch is seen posing with her hands in her pockets, an informal picture which aides feared were not suitable for the public eye.
• This follows royal news that another special picture mysteriously disappeared from the Queen's audience room.

The new picture was shared to mark to mark the publication of extracts from her dressmaker’s book, Angela Kelly.

It was taken seven years ago, but it was not published at the time as royal aides feared it was too informal for the world to see.

Speaking about the photo shoot when the portrait was taken, Angela wrote in her new book The Other Side of the Coin, the Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe, ‘I stood by in disbelief - the Queen was a natural.

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‘The Queen looked at me in amazement as I asked whether she knew the potential implications of the photographs. She didn't take long to answer: yes, she would do it and, yes, she was sure.’

‘On the day in question, photographer Barry Jeffery began to explain how the photoshoot would progress.

‘Within moments, the Queen raised her hand respectfully and Barry immediately stopped talking.

‘”No Barry, this is how we're going to do it,” she said. “Just keep the camera rolling.”’

‘And we were off. Her Majesty took her position in front of the lens and started striking a series of poses, slipping her hands in and out of her pockets and placing them onto her hips, mimicking the stances of a professional model.’

However, not everyone was happy with the pictures, as royal aides thought they were not suitable to be published.

‘Their opinion was that these more candid photographs would bring the monarchy down and therefore they were not suitable for the public eye. Why they thought that, I have no idea’, Angela also wrote.

It seems as they were wrong, as royal fans are loving the picture on social media – mostly because it seems like the Queen is a big fan of pockets, juts like the rest of us!

One said on Twitter, ‘Even the Queen likes a good dress with pockets.’

Another joked, ‘Me: Ooh I Love your outfit! Queen: Thanks - it has POCKETS!’.

A third added, ‘The Queen is all of us when we realise... IT’S GOT POCKETS!!’

Now let’s hope the Queen's support leads to even more clothes with pockets for everyone… they’re so handy!