Jane Barlow, author of the last photo of Elizabeth II: “She was very fragile, but at the same time very smiling”

The reporter went to Balmoral to immortalize the meeting between Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Liz Truss “She did not pose at all, it was a pleasant and natural moment,” says BarlowIn the room, along with the queen’s press secretary, she had only been authorized the presence of a photographer, Jane Barlow, from the Press Association. Barlow would work as a ‘pool’ for the rest of the media. The reporter has narrated how the snapshots that were published in media around the world were taken and that have gone down in history as the last portraits of the longest-lived monarch of the modern era, a fragile woman, impeccable in appearance, dressed in gray shirt and cardigan, leaning on a cane and with a small black bag. In statements collected by the Daily Mail, Barlow has narrated that she was sent to Balmoral to cover the relief of the prime minister, known as the royal rotation. “I was there to photograph the queen welcoming the new Prime Minister, and just before the new Prime Minister came into the room, I spent a few moments with Her Majesty and that’s when I got that picture.” “She was very smiling”” When I walked into the room with the Queen’s press secretary, she was all smiles and then she moved across the room to her position and there was a while while we had to wait for Liz Truss to be announced, so during that short time she made a comment about the weather. She commented on how dark it was outside because the weather had closed, and she seemed in a really good mood.” “Obviously she was very frail but at the same time very smiley and I got a lot of smiles from her.” “She seemed very happy, very smiling,” recalls the reporter. “Then Liz Truss was announced, and when she came into the room and went up to Her Majesty to shake her hand, obviously I was there to photograph that.” Barlow recounts that the queen “greeted Liz Truss with another big smile at which point I left the room and those were just my brief minutes with Her Majesty on Tuesday” “It was a lovely moment as we waited for those few minutes.” “She did not pose” The photographer highlights the naturalness of the queen before the camera. “She didn’t pose at all, it was a nice, natural moment where she just looked up and smiled and now it’s also even more touching because it’s one of the last photos taken of her.” “Knowing this makes the Queen’s final photo even more special,” she concludes.