Official Royal Portrait Embraces Modernity by Including Smartphone

Apr 23, 2025

Matt Growcoot

A young woman in an orange satin gown with a blue sash and tiara stands in an elegant room with gold accents, a floral arrangement, and holds a phone, smiling. — The portraits released to mark Princess Isabella’s 18th birthday. Perhaps the first royal portraits where a smartphone has been included.

Princess Isabella of Denmark turned 18 years old this week and to mark the occasion a series of portraits were released with one of them containing an interesting detail.

Breaking with royal protocol, Princess Isabella was pictured holding her smartphone in a nod to the technological generation to which she belongs. The photo of Isabella holding the phone was taken by Queen Mary of Denmark while the other photos were captured by photographer Steen Evald.

A smiling woman in a formal orange gown and teal sash stands indoors, wearing a jeweled tiara and earrings, with her hair styled neatly. She holds a phone and stands in an elegant room with columns and a chandelier. — H.M. Dronningen

Isabella was born in 2007 making her a member of Generation Z. The inclusion of the smartphone prompted Hello! magazine to label her “the ultimate modern princess.”

The Telegraph notes that Denmark’s royal family is popular in the country but are more understated and embrace modernity more than its British counterparts.

A young woman in an elegant, off-shoulder orange gown and tiara stands beside a mirror. She wears a blue sash with medals and jewelry, and both her and her reflection pose gracefully in a lavish room with gold accents. — Steen Evald, Kongehuset

A young woman sits on a cream chair wearing an elegant orange off-shoulder gown, a blue sash with medals, a tiara, and matching jewelry, in a bright room with tall windows and beige curtains. — Steen Evald, Kongehuset

A young woman wearing a golden off-the-shoulder gown, blue sash, and tiara stands beside an ornate table with a large bouquet of dark flowers in an elegant, gold-accented room. — Steen Evald, Kongehuset

“Thank you so much to everyone who helped me celebrate my 18th birthday,” Princess Isabella writes on Instagram. “It has been really nice that so many people have spent their time, thought and effort to make my day so special. This means a lot to me.”

Queen Mary only received her title last year after Queen Margrethe II stepped down after 52 years on the throne. Mary’s husband King Frederik X became Queen Margrethe’s successor and was crowned last year.

Royal Portraits

For centuries, royal portraits were done by painters but are almost always done by photographers in the modern age. Last year, Annie Leibovitz was commissioned to take new portraits of Queen Letizia and King Felipe of Spain celebrating the couple’s 20th wedding anniversary. The legendary photographer utilized her signature dramatic style; making excellent use of color and light.

Leibovitz has also captured portraits of the late Queen Elizabeth II of Britain. Back in 2007, Leibovitz was hired to shoot a set of portraits of the Queen at Buckingham Palace in preparation for a state visit to the United States. The photographer and her 11 assistants spent three weeks preparing for the 30-minute photo shoot.

The Queen was to start things off wearing the full regalia of the ancient Order of the Garter, complete with tiara, and the “complicated” and “cumbersome” outfit took longer than expected to put on, delaying the start time by 15 minutes.

Queen Elizabeth was not amused by Leibovitz’s request.

After Leibovitz finally got the Queen seated at the first portrait location, she had an idea for a last-minute change.

“I think it will look better without the crown,” the photographer told the Queen. “[…] Could we try without the crown? It will look better… less dressy. Because the garter robe is so…”

But before Leibovitz could finish her sentence, the Queen cut her off.

“Less dressy?” the Queen replied with annoyance in her voice and on her face. “What do you think this is?…”

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