Queen Elizabeth's unseen pictures published in Dutch photographer's book 'feest'

Unseen pictures of Queen Elizabeth II when she was only 31 years old are published in the photobook by Dutch photographer Ed van der Elsken, titled ‘feest’. In a pleasant surprise, the Rijksmuseum and the Nederlands Fotomuseum that discovered the design mock-up for a never-published photobook in the estate of the photographer who died in 1990. As per the official statement, the museums had acquired the estate of Elsken by the end of 2019 and it included many forgotten photographs of the history. Therefore, resembling ‘feast’ of moments captured between 1950 and 1960, the book was published on October 24.

Among these 134 historic images is a black-and-white portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh during their state visit in the Netherlands. The images that were never seen by the pubic have captured the royal couple in march 1958 when the monarch was 31. The Queen and Prince Philip are seen chatting with Queen Juliana of the Netherlands at a banquet in Ridderzaal in The Hague amidst photographers and other dignitaries. 

Image credits: Rijksmuseum and the Nederlands Fotomuseum

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Why was the book not yet published?

The official statement by Rijksmuseum said for “unknown reasons” the book was not published but elaborated that the book has a succession of festive events along with the accompanying euphoria. The book was published by both museums posthumously. While explaining the discovery, director of Rijksmuseum, taco Dibbits noted that the book holds images from all extremes such as funfairs, state visits, smiles and tears. 

Taco Dibbits, director of the Rijksmuseum said “Ed van der Elsken gained international renown thanks in particular to his photobooks. This makes the discovery of feest all the more remarkable. feest captures an era, from the 1950s to the early 60s. You see extremes: from funfairs to state visits, from smiles to tears. You see people connecting and people letting go. Most of all, you see what it is that brings people together.”

It was Elsken’s wife Anneke Hilhorst who decided to transfer the estate to the Rijksmuseum and the Nederlands Fotomuseum after spending years in taking care of the photographs in their wooden house on IJsselmeerdijk in Edam. ‘feest’ ended up marking the start of their research into the archives of Elsken’s work that comprised of 11,000 objects. The book comprises of 224 pages and is available at a price of €19.50.

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