Category: Society / October 3, 2012 2:18 PM EDT
Relaxed, modern images of the British royal family taken by famed photographer Mario Testino went on display at the National Portrait Gallery in London on Wednesday. The small exhibit contains just eight portraits of Prince William and Kate Middleton before they were married, Prince Harry, Prince Charles, and Camilla the Duchess of Cornwall.
Testino managed to create a relaxed and intimate feel to the traditional royal images, Neil Evans a spokesperson for the National Portrait Gallery spoke about the unique portraits:
"I think what Mario Testino has brought to the tradition of royal portraiture is remarkable, because he has really emphasized their modernity and their sense of informality, but also maintained that sense of dignity and classic pose that you get in royal portraiture and it is that combination which he has achieved so successfully, I think is what the public have really come to love,"
Peruvian Mario Testino has had a long relationship with the royal family and is well known for his pioneering portraits of Diana, Princess of Wales, in relaxed poses- a relatively new phenomenon for the royals at the time.
