3 new portraits of the Queen & Prince Philip released to mark their 70th anniversary

With 70 years of married life there will be no shortage of happy memories to reflect on, from jubilees and jamborees to grand State occasions and intimate family gatherings.

As their great love story reaches a new milestone today it is tempting to wonder if this simple but delightfully unstuffy portrait of the Queen and Prince Philip catches them as they see each other.

No end of photographs of monarch and consort have been issued over the decades, but have we ever seen one quite so revealing as this? Philip all mischief and affection with a quizzical arch to the eyebrow. And the Queen? She responds with laughter and a smile of utter devotion.

Who knows what passed between the couple as the photographer artfully arranged them in front of a platinum textured background in recognition of their special anniversary? But it is safe to say that the atmosphere was all down to the special chemistry between husband and wife that is undimmed as they enter their eighth decade of marriage.