One thing that is clear about Britain's Queen Elizabeth II is her natural grace, and no less stunning are her gowns and diamonds as many stylists will tell you. Now imagine entering her private world and coming within close reach of everything that characterises the fourth-longest reigning monarch in British history.

It isn't a dream any more, the queen has allowed her private collection of rarely seen photographs, gowns and diamonds to be displayed as part of a public celebration of her 80th birthday next month.

Her life will be explored in a photo display at the Windsor Castle, while her "Glittering Gowns and Dazzling Diamonds" will be showcased at the Buckingham Palace in July.

The Windsor Castle exhibition sets out to capture the queen's public and family life over the past 80 years through pictures taken by many top photographers, including Marcus Adams, Dorothy Wilding, Cecil Beaton, Patrick Lichfield and the Duke of York.

The show opens with rarely seen images of Princess Elizabeth when she was merely five weeks old and as a laughing toddler. There is also a fascinating photograph of the youthful princess dwarfed by lilies that was taken by her father, the Duke of York (later King George VI).

Some of the photos show the young princess and her sister dressed for their parts in Aladdin, the Christmas pantomime at Windsor Castle in 1943.

Central to the photo collection is the strength of the royal family, which is expressed through portraits depicting the princess with her grandparents (King George V and Queen Mary), her parents (King George VI and Queen Elizabeth) and her sister (Princess Margaret).

A 1942 shot reveals the young Elizabeth wearing the uniform of a colonel-in-chief of the Grenadier Guards in which she beams warmly, her head tilted. In another she was captured while inspecting the regiment, her first public engagement, two years later on her 18th birthday.

A number of pictures also chronicle her engagement and marriage in 1947 to Prince Philip, her coronation in 1953 and after the birth of her four children. Others show her with five of her 10 prime ministers and with Commonwealth heads of state.

Ultimately, however, the pictures are a telling celebration of the continuity of an ancient tradition.

A very happy birthday, Queen Elizabeth!

The exhibition of photographs to celebrate the 80th birthday of the Queen runs from April 3 to March 11, 2007, at the Drawings Gallery, Windsor Castle.

Manote Tripathi

The Nation