Watch more of our videos on Shots!
and live on Freeview channel 276

Life Through A Royal Lens opened on Thursday June 1 as part of the Belfast Photo Festival, and features the amateur photography alongside the work of world-renowned photographers including Norman Parkinson, Annie Leibovitz and Cecil Beaton, who have all photographed members of the Royal Family over the years.

Photographs spanning the decades were submitted from those in Northern Ireland who have had a chance to catch either a glimpse of members of the Royal Family on their visits over the years, or who have spent time with them at official events and garden parties.

The project team at Historic Royal Palaces - the charity which cares for Hillsborough Castle and Gardens - have selected 18 that will feature on a revolving digital display as part of the exhibition.

Castle and Collections Manager, David Orr, puts the finishing touches to Hillsborough Castle’s first ever exhibition, Life Through A Royal Lens

Images include some which were taken by members of the public who were invited to Royal Garden Parties held at Hillsborough Castle over the years, including The Prince and Princess of Wales in 2016, Prince Harry in 2017 and King Charles in 2018.

A photograph taken on September 13, 2022 shows the streets of Royal Hillsborough packed with people hoping to catch a glimpse of The King, as he made his first visit as Monarch to Northern Ireland.

An image taken on the same day shows King Charles and Queen Camilla looking at the floral tributes left in honour of the late Queen Elizabeth II outside Hillsborough Castle, while another shows HM The King waving to the crowds at St Anne’s Cathedral, where a service of reflection was being held for his mother.

There are photographs with poignant memories from as far back as the 1960s, and others that take us right up to present day.

HM Queen Elizabeth II with John Gordon (Veteran of the Battle of the Somme) at the 50th Commemoration of the Battle of the Somme, King's Hall Balmoral, photographed by Pat in 1966.

Other photographs include submissions that feature Prince Edward in 2020 at a Lisburn foodbank; a photograph of Princess Anne signing the visitor’s book at the Agricultural Research Institute in Hillsborough in 1982; one of King Charles, then Prince of Wales, meeting crowds at Belfast City Hospital in 1996; and an image of Queen Elizabeth II waving to crowds as she entered St. George’s Market in Belfast in 2014.

Life Through a Royal Lens is the first exhibition ever to be housed at Hillsborough Castle and Gardens, and will see examples of the most iconic royal photographs juxtaposed with images providing a glimpse of the Royal Family off-duty.

The exhibition has inspired a new one-day intensive Digital Photography for Beginners workshop led by local freelance artist and designer, Neil Hainsworth which will be held on June.

SERC lecturer and past students are nominated for an Association of Irish Musica...

HRH Princess Anne, accompanied by Professor John Murdoch (ARIH Director), signing the visitors book at the Agricultural Research Institute Hillsborough, taken by Caroline in March 1982.

Laura McCorry, Head of Hillsborough Castle and Gardens, said: “We are so grateful to all of our amateur photographers for sending us their cherished photographs of the Royal Family, some of which have been captured at a moment’s notice, and others which hold dear and treasured memories.

“These candid photographs really connect the Royal Family with the public in Northern Ireland."

For more information and booking, please visit hrp.org.uk/Hillsborough-castle.

Royal photographs taken by the public will join a new exhibition at Hillsborough Castle