It seems even the most reputable photographers in the industry aren’t immune from criticism. During a photo session with the Queen herself, Annie Leibovitz was “scolded” for asking her to remove her crown for a few shots.
Revealed as part of BBC One’s documentary “A Year with the Queen,” the exchange happened during a 2007 shoot which was taking place in the US. Leibovitz is quoted as asking:
Could we try without the crown? It would look better, less dressy. The garter robe is so…
It was here that the Queen cut in, remarking: “Less dressy? What do you think this is?” She claimed removing her crown would involve having to revert back to the dressing room in order to tidy up her hair again. It was here one of the Queen’s assistants explained that once the crown was off, it couldn’t be put back on.
Interestingly, when the clip was first used in a trailer for the documentary, the BBC were forced to issue an apology after they falsely made it seem the Queen had left the set as a result of the conversation, which in actual fact was not true. Their statement read:
In this trailer, there is a sequence that implies that the Queen left a sitting prematurely. This was not the case, and the actual sequence of events was misrepresented. The BBC would like to apologise to both the Queen and Annie Leibovitz for any upset this may have caused.
Check out the clip to see the pair exchange words and how the rest of the shoot went.