Elizabeth II pictured by Dorothy Wilding on 26th February 1952, just twenty days after her accession, in her first formal portrait session as Queen, wearing a black taffeta strapless “cabbage leaf” dress by Norman Hartnell. The purpose of the session was to produce the portraits to be used on the coins, banknotes and stamps of the new reign. One of the 58 photos from the session was selected as the official portrait to hang in every British embassy around the world. Another was the silhouette image used on the front cover of this book. Credit 172