Thomas Struth doesn't usually make portraits he photographs architecture and in colossal scale. With this royal portrait Struth has said, he seeks to place the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh "both in their royal environment... and yet both in their own aura".
There is no pomp and circumstance here, no royal regalia as in Annie Leibowitz's recent photograph, although around them is the baroque splendor of Windsor Castle's Green Drawing Room. The Queen and Duke sit as comfortably as possible, but still rather stiffly. The beauty lies in the Queen's resplendent powder-blue dress and simple black shoes.
The light falls more fully on the Queen, and the Duke appears to fall back into shadow.
They seem to be comfortably at home.
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