A fresh assessment of the importance of portraiture in the image-making of monarchs from Richard II to the present day, this book covers a far wider timescale than any previous studies of the subject, and is the first to focus on royal portraiture in the Royal Collection.

Starting with the stylised royal portraits of the early kings, it covers works by Holbein, Van Dyck, Zoffany, Landseer and Freud, among many others. Each of the six chapters opens with a quotation, and is structured around specific key images which are discussed in particular detail, while the final chapter investigates the new role of portraiture in the age of photography and global media coverage.