Pretty as a Princess

Pretty as a Princess
Timeless portraits of iconic royal beauties - past and present

Embodiment of royal elegance
The Queen's late stylish and glamorous younger sister, Princess Margaret, was married to photographer Lord Snowdon in May 1960.

The playful princess stopped to smell the roses in the garden of Kensington Palace in this 1965 portrait.

Princess Margaret was strict about royal protocol, but free-spirited enough to pose for this 1976 portrait reclining barefoot on a sofa at her home, Les JoliesEaux, on Mustique in the West Indies.

Immortal Grace
While most actresses have portrayed a princess at one time or another, only Grace Kelly was born to play the role in real life.

With her delicate beauty, impeccable manners and balletic elegance, the Oscar-winning star was a storybook match for Monaco's ruler, Prince Rainier III, whom she married in 1956.

Princess Grace of Monaco's wedding gown, along with her veil and pearl-studded prayer book, were made by fellow Oscar-winner, Hollywood costume designer Helen Rose.

Princess Grace transformed with ease from a Hollywood legend into a consort, wife and mother.

Diana in diamonds
The Princess of Wales wore a wedding gown - with a magnificent 25-foot train - by David and Elizabeth Emmanuel along with the Spencer family tiara when she married Prince Charles in 1982. Her dress was fit for a princess, made from 40 yards of silk and 100 yards of crinoline with an 18-karat gold horseshoe hidden on it for good luck.

One of her favourite couturiers, Victor Edelstein, created this glittering strapless dress and bolero jacket in oyster duchesse satin, embroidered with gold and silver thread and embellished with pearls. Princess Di loved it so much that she wore it several times, including to a state banquet at France's Elysee Palace in 1988. Two months before her death, the princess auctioned off her famous gowns for charity: this one sold for almost $100,000.

An unabashed lover of romantic gowns and jewels, Princess Diana had designers falling at her feet. Catherine Walker designed the silk and oyster pearl jacket and dress creation the royal commissioned for an official visit to Hong Kong in November 1989. Her diamond-and-pearl Cambridge Lover's Knot tiara, paired with drop pearl earrings, was an heirloom from the Queen's grandmother Queen Mary.

The People's Princess wore an elegant black Victor Edelstein gown to a banquet in Germany, teaming it with the Spencer tiara, along with a necklace and earrings presented to her as a gift by the Sultan of Oman.

Anne's wild side
The Queen's equestrian champion daughter, Princess Anne - pictured riding her horse Columbus during the Windsor Horse Trials in Berkshire in April 1972 - will always prefer jodhpurs to crown jewels.

But the princess royal proved that glamour is no obstacle by looking simply sensational on her wedding day to Mark Phillips in November 1973. She crowned her wedding ensemble with the George III tiara which her mother, the Queen, also wore on her wedding day.

Earlier that year Princess Anne was gifted the Festoon Diamond Tiara by the World Wide Shipping Group. She later loaned the shimmering crown to her daughter-in-law Autumn Phillips when she wed her only son, Peter.

Kent's cool jewel
Blue-eyed, blonde-haired Princess Michael of Kent - nee Baroness Marie Christine Agnes Hedwig Ida von Reibnitz - made an eye-catching addition to the British Royal Family when she married the Queen's first cousin, Prince Michael of Kent, in 1978.

Known for her outspoken nature, the eastern Europe-born princess, now in her 60s, is also renowned for her beauty.

Here the sophisticate wears the pearl-and-diamond Kent festoon tiara, with a gorgeous gown, to attend a London banquet in honour of former Russian President Vladimir Putin and his wife Lyudmila in 2003.

Princess Michael, who has two children - Lady Gabriella Windsor and Lord Frederick Windsor, who married actress Sophie Winkleman in September 2009 - is pictured enjoying the softer side of life with her Siamese cat in her home.

Pretty as a Princess

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