Timeless portraits of iconic royal beauties - past

and present

Embodiment of royal eleganceThe Queen's late stylish and glamorous younger sister, Princess

Margaret, was married to photographer Lord Snowdon in May 1960.

The playful princess stopped to smell the roses in the garden of Kensington Palace in

this 1965 portrait.

Princess Margaret was strict about royal protocol, but free-spirited enough to pose for this 1976 portrait reclining

barefoot on a sofa at her home, Les Jolies Eaux, on Mustique in the West Indies.

Immortal GraceWhile most actresses have portrayed a

princess at one time or another, only Grace Kelly was born to play the role in real life.

With her delicate beauty, impeccable manners and balletic elegance, the Oscar-winning star was a

storybook match for Monaco's ruler, Prince Rainier III, whom she married in 1956.

Princess Grace of Monaco's wedding gown, along with her veil and pearl-studded prayer book, were made by fellow Oscar-winner, Hollywood costume

designer Helen Rose.

Princess Grace transformed with ease from a Hollywood legend into a consort, wife and

mother.

Diana in diamondsThe Princess of Wales wore a wedding gown - with a magnificent 25-foot train - by David and Elizabeth

Emmanuel along with the Spencer family tiara when she married Prince Charles in 1982. Her dress

was fit for a princess, made from 40 yards of silk and 100 yards of crinoline with an 18-karat gold

horseshoe hidden on it for good luck.

One of her favourite couturiers, Victor Edelstein, created this glittering strapless dress and bolero jacket in oyster duchesse satin, embroidered with

gold and silver thread and embellished with pearls. Princess Di loved it so much that she wore it several times, including to a state banquet at

France's Elysee Palace in 1988. Two months before her death, the princess auctioned off her famous

gowns for charity: this one sold for almost $100,000.

An unabashed lover of romantic gowns and jewels, Princess Diana had designers falling at her feet. Catherine Walker designed the silk and oyster

pearl jacket and dress creation the royal commissioned for an official visit to Hong Kong in

November 1989. Her diamond-and-pearl Cambridge Lover's Knot tiara, paired with drop pearl earrings,

was an heirloom from the Queen's grandmother Queen Mary.

The People's Princess wore an

elegant black Victor Edelstein

gown to a banquet in Germany,

teaming it with the Spencer

tiara, along with a necklace and

earrings presented to her as a gift by the Sultan of Oman.

Anne's wild side

The Queen's equestrian champion daughter,

Princess Anne - pictured riding

her horse Columbus during the

Windsor Horse Trials in

Berkshire in April 1972 - will always

prefer jodhpurs to

crown jewels.

But the princess royal proved that glamour is no obstacle by looking simply sensational on her

wedding day to Mark Phillips in November 1973. She crowned her wedding ensemble with the

George III tiara which her mother, the Queen, also wore on her wedding day.

Earlier that year Princess Anne was gifted the Festoon Diamond Tiara by the World Wide Shipping Group. She later loaned the shimmering crown to

her daughter-in-law Autumn Phillips when she wed her only son, Peter.

Kent's cool jewelBlue-eyed, blonde-haired Princess Michael of Kent - nee Baroness Marie Christine Agnes

Hedwig Ida von Reibnitz - made an eye-catching addition to the British Royal Family when she married the Queen's first cousin,

Prince Michael of Kent, in 1978.

Known for her outspoken nature, the eastern Europe-born princess, now in her 60s, is also

renowned for her beauty.

Here the sophisticate wears the pearl-and-diamond Kent festoon tiara, with a gorgeous gown, to attend a London banquet in honour of former Russian President Vladimir Putin and his wife

Lyudmila in 2003.

Princess Michael, who has two children - Lady Gabriella Windsor and Lord Frederick Windsor, who married actress Sophie Winkleman in September 2009 - is pictured enjoying the softer side of life

with her Siamese cat in her home.