A Look Behind The Lens - The Queen's Private Albums

Kiwi Author Rodney Uncovers a Remarkable Royal Story.

- Donna Fleming

In one shot, a 10-year-old Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen of England, is cuddling one of her dogs. In another, she and her sister Princess Margaret and their father, King George VI, are making a fuss of their pets while the Queen Mother watches from their playhouse at Windsor’s Royal Lodge.

Then there’s Elizabeth, Duchess of York, now a mother herself, hauling toddler Princess Anne through a window at Balmoral Castle, with three-year-old Prince Charles giving his sister a shove from behind.

These stunning photos of three generations of the royal family looking relaxed and, well, normal caused a stir when they were first published thanks to their informality, which was a marked contrast to the very posed shots that were commonplace at the time.

Even now, they are just as endearing, and it’s thanks to a Kiwi author that we know the fascinating story behind the photos, and the photographers responsible for the striking images.

Rodney Laredo, of Akaroa, has written a book called Informally Royal, and details how English couple Lisa and Jimmy Sheridan of Studio Lisa were chosen first by the Queen’s parents and then by the Queen herself to document their private lives for 30 years.

Rodney has long wanted to tell Lisa and Jimmy’s story, but it was only recently that he found a publisher prepared to stump up the money to pay for the rights to use Studio Lisa’s iconic photos, now owned by two international photo agencies.

“It’s been a long time coming, and I’m very pleased I found publisher The History Press, who had faith in the book and were prepared to take a chance,” says Rodney, whose five other books include the best-selling To Hell with Poverty, about him and his wife Alethea running an English country house in the UK.