Grace Kelly was like a bull calf. Dali had appalling breath. And the Queen? Serene (well, that’s a relief!).
Thanks to a brilliant new book bringing together his sublime portraits and wicked diaries for the first time, we can reveal what Cecil Beaton really thought of his celebrity subjects 
MELTINGLY SYMPATHETIC’: PRINCESS ELIZABETH, 1943 (AND RIGHT WITH PRINCE CHARLES IN 1950) ‘Her real charm, like her mother’s, does not carry across in her photographs, and each time one sees her one is delighted how much more serene, magnetic, and at the same time meltingly sympathetic, she is than one had imagined. In the photographs there is a certain heaviness which is not there in real life, and one misses... the effect of the dazzlingly fresh complexion, the clear regard from the glass-blue eyes, and the gentle, all-pervading sweetness of her smile.’ 
+17 Cecil Beaton used his lens to capture the grit and glamour of some of the greatest stars - including Mick Jagger and Grace Kelly - of our time Cecil Beaton used his lens to capture the grit and glamour of some of the greatest stars of our time. But while he charmed his subjects – from the Queen to Marilyn Monroe, Fred Astaire and the Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger – and strove to highlight their unique allure, his portraits, taken from the Twenties to the Seventies, concealed his own razor-sharp intelligence and often savage wit. Now a remarkable new book, Cecil Beaton: Portraits & Profiles, combines for the first time his candid personal diaries together with some of his most famous images. They offer a unique and, frankly, astonishingly unguarded view of what he thought of his famous subjects. Audrey Hepburn, for example, had ‘inherent “star” quality’, though Beaton also noted ‘a neck too thin, a chin too pointed and a nose too long’. Beaton chased Marilyn Monroe around a hotel room before focusing his lens on her, observing ‘she walks like an undulating basilisk, scorching everything in her path’ – and joked with the Queen about showing her teeth in pictures. ‘It was very easy to reduce the Queen to a condition of ineradicable fou rire [giggles] and thus prevent many of the pictures looking sullen and morose,’ he noted. ‘This amuses me and my amusement amuses the Queen.’ ‘AMUSING AND WITTY’: PRINCESS MARGARET, 1949 
+17 ‘LIKE A BULL CALF’: GRACE KELLY, 1965 ‘A photographic beauty is someone who photographs well. 'Grace Kelly is a case in point. If she did not photograph well, we would scarcely stop to look at her on the street... If both sides of her face were the same as the right half she wouldn’t be on the screen. That side is very heavy, like a bull calf, but the left side is intensely feminine and creates the counter-point. 'She has unerringly good taste and an unerring sense of comportment.’ 
+17 LIKE A PEASANT WOMAN IN PERU’: ELIZABETH TAYLOR, 1957 ‘She’s everything I dislike. I have always loathed the Burtons for their vulgarity, commonness and crass bad taste, she combining the worst of U.S. and English taste. 'I treated her with authority, told her not to powder her nose, to come in front of the cameras with it shining. 'She wanted compliments. She got none. “Don’t touch me like that,” she whined! Her breasts, hanging and huge, were like those of a peasant woman suckling her young in Peru. On her fat, coarse hands more of the biggest diamonds and emeralds... And this was the woman who is the greatest “draw”. In comparison everyone else looked ladylike.’ 
+17 A QUALITY OF HEARTBREAK’: AUDREY HEPBURN, 1960 ‘It is a rare phenomenon to find a young girl with such inherent “star” quality. Yet she has too much innate candour to take on the gloss of artificiality Hollywood is apt to demand of its queens. 'Her stance is a combination of an ultra-fashion plate and a ballet dancer. Her features show character rather than prettiness. Her voice is peculiarly personal, with its unaccustomed rhythm and sing-song cadence that develops into a flat drawl that ends in a childlike query. It has a quality of heartbreak. 'Intelligent and alert, wistful but enthusiastic, frank yet tactful, assured without conceit and tender without sentimentality.’ 
+17 ‘UNBELIEVABLY NAIVE’: JULIE ANDREWS,1959 ‘Julie Andrews, an almost unknown girl who had the talent and luck to land the whopper of the part of Eliza [Doolittle, in the Broadway version of My Fair Lady], was almost unbelievably naïve and simple. She was angelically patient at the many fittings of her clothes and never expressed opinion. 'One day, due to exhaustion at rehearsals, she keeled over in a dead faint while fitting her ball gown. 'A cup of cold water was enough to revive her and she reproached herself that her mother back home in Walton-on-Thames would be ashamed of her. “Oh, Mummie, what a silly girl I am,” she kept repeating.' 
+17 FILM-STAR TEMPERAMENT’: MARLENE DIETRICH, 1930 ‘Most striking of her features is her whiteness, which would put the Moon or a white rabbit to shame. 'She has, or has acquired, the necessary temperament of the film star; never in a hurry; her pace is slow, her perseverance phenomenal. 'She will spend 12 hours being photographed in the studio, and, without regrets, tear up every proof next morning if they are not to her complete satisfaction.’ 
+17 ‘BARKS, WHEEZES AND GRUNTS’: WINSTON CHURCHILL, 1940 ‘Churchill, still with cigar in mouth, looked so lonely and alone in this large room. I clicked my Rolleiflex camera, and it let off a flash. This surprised the Prime Minister. Although his sentences were not perfectly formed I would hazard that the following would be an interpretation of the barks, wheezes and grunts that turned my blood cold: ‘Hey, damn you, young fellow, what the hell are you up to with your monkey tricks? Stop this nonsense! I hate candid photographs! Wait till I’m prepared: the glass of port taken away, my spectacles so – now then – I’m ready, but don’t try any cleverness with me!’ 
+17 ‘CHARMING MAN’: FRANCIS BACON, 1960 ‘We seemed to have an immediate rapport. I was overwhelmed by his tremendous charm and understanding... impressed by his “principal boy” legs. I enjoyed looking around at the incredible mess of his studio.’ 
+17 ‘A VAUDEVILLE TRAMP’: JOHN BETJEMAN, 1955 ‘English poetry has had many odd practitioners, but none more unique than Mr John Betjeman. In appearance he is like an Edwardian vaudeville tramp, right down to the mackintosh and battered hat that covers a thinning pate. His face has the anonymity of an oyster and the sad innocence of a Murillo cherub. Waiting for Godot, he stands alone as the nostalgic chronicler of the sordid in contemporary life.’ 
+17 ‘CLEAN, FRESH AND RIPPING’: FRED ASTAIRE AND HIS SISTER ADELE,1930 ‘I was quivering to see the Astaires. They look so marvellous. Especially him. His head looks perfect. I was delirious with happiness all the time either of them were on the stage. She is so American and perfect, so slim and graceful. I adore her ugly face and the pearls tight around her neck. She is perfect and he is marvellous also. They are so clean and fresh and ripping. I thought that Adele Astaire was rather like Felix the Cat, but oh so much nicer. I did adore them and their dancing is just too extraordinarily marvellous to describe.’ 
+17 ‘APPALLING BREATH’: SALVADOR AND GALA DALI, 1937 ‘He spends two months every winter in the St Regis Hotel. It was remarkable to see him converting the “French” suite... It looked like Dali décor. On arriving at Dali’s sitting room I saw hundreds of these chocolate discs placed in a row and running like a line of ants all over the flat surfaces. He does not eat chocolates, as he has a weak liver, and had preserved these to count the days he has spent here. (Other strangenesses included an invalid chair with an umbrella and top hat over it, a huge black cabinet with dark glass paintings on it, and a strange and inexplicable picture of a beer advertisement added.) I loved him for being such an original individual but today was terribly put off by his really appalling bad breath.’ 
Actress: During filming, Bacall realised that one way to hold her trembling head still was to keep it down, chin low, almost to her chest, and eyes up at Bogart. It worked, and turned out to be the beginning of 'The Look' Our jokes were total corn: ‘What did the ceiling say to the wall?’ ‘Hold me up, I’m plastered!’ What happened next developed almost imperceptibly. About three weeks into the picture, I was sitting in the dressing room at the end of the day, combing my hair. Bogie came in to bid me good night. He was standing behind me, and we were joking as usual, when suddenly he leaned over, put his hand under my chin, and kissed me. It was impulsive. He took a worn pack of matches out of his pocket and asked me to put my phone number on the back. I did. I don’t know why I did, except it was part of our game. Bogie was known for never fooling around with women at work. He was not that kind of man. Also, he was married to Mayo Methot, his third wife and a woman who was a notorious drinker and fighter. A tough lady who would hit you with an ashtray, lamp, anything, as soon as not. 
+11 Well-matched: Bogart and Bacall, whose sense of humour 'went well together', are pictured in The Big Sleep They were known as the Battling Bogarts. Almost every evening wound up with her throwing something at Bogie, trying to hit him... and succeeding most of the time. She’d stabbed him in the back with a knife on one occasion, and he had the scar to prove it. He said he had to drink, because it was the only way he could live with her. The day I gave him my number, Bogie called. It was 11pm and he’d had a few drinks. He called me Slim, which was the name Howard had given me in the movie — the same name as Howard’s wife. THE WIFE THEY CALLED SLUGGY Bogart's wife Mayo was so prone to beating him up that she was widely known as 'Sluggy'. Bogart named his yacht Sluggy in honour and their Hollywood home was nicknamed Sluggy Hollow. Bogie and I joked back and forth on the phone, and that was all, but from that night our relationship changed. We’d sit in my dressing room or his, finding out more about one another. Bogie was a first-rate chess player, and if he had a game going on the set, I’d stand close to him and watch. Physical proximity became more and more important. He had a friend who lived in a trailer park, an actor called Pat O’Moore, and sometimes we’d go over there for dinner, well away from anyone who might see us and tell Mayo. Other nights he’d call very late, sometimes at 2 am, and come over to my apartment. I told no one, but anyone with half an eye could see that there was more between us than the scenes we played. Howard became aware that there was something electric between us. He used it in the picture — but he didn’t like it. As we neared the end of shooting, he summoned me to his house one night. I was petrified. 
+11 Family: Bogart and Bacall are pictured with their son Stephen in Southampton in 1951. They also had a daughter When he saw me at the beginning of the day, and when he called me on the telephone, his first words were always ‘Hello, Baby’. My heart would literally pound. I knew that physical changes were happening within me. The simplest word, look, or move would bring a gut reaction. It was all so romantic. And I wanted to give Bogie so much that he hadn’t had — all the love that had been stored inside of me all my life for the father who had walked out on my family when I was six. One night, he called and woke me, to say he was desperate to see me. He was in a bar round the corner; would I meet him there? I threw on slacks and a sweater, and ran up the street, my arms open wide and my hair flying, into Bogie’s smiling embrace. It felt wonderful beyond words to be so wanted, so adored! No one had ever felt like that about me... and it was so dramatic to be together in the wee small hours, when it seemed the whole world was ours. 
+11 Innocent: Bacall said her co-star started to 'awaken feelings that were new to me' But when my mother came to stay from New York, she was furious. ‘He’s been married three times,’ she said. ‘What kind of a man is that, seeing a girl 25 years younger?’ I tried to tell her how unhappy Bogie was, but she didn’t trust him for one second. Bogie was her age. He’d had three wives, he drank a lot. What kind of man could he be, except no good? When shooting on To Have And Have Not ended after 11 weeks, Bogie and I were miserable. I didn’t understand how it was possible to obtain pleasure from anything if we weren’t together. Sports, a meal, friends... how was anything in life bearable when you couldn’t be with the one you loved? A week after the movie wrapped, I received my first letter from Bogie. He felt just as low as I did: when we parted, he said, a little piece of his heart died. We decided to start meeting again in cars, in secret: holding hands, talking, looking at each other, kissing. And we exchanged letters. ‘Baby, I want you to have the loveliest life any mortal ever had... I never believed that I could love anyone again, for so many things have happened in my life to me that I was afraid to love... ‘Slim darling, now I’m afraid that you’ll become impatient and that I’ll lose you — but even if that happened, I wouldn’t stop loving you, for you are my last love and all the rest of my life I shall love you and watch you and be ready to help you.’ At four one morning the telephone rang. Bogie was a little drunk. He was in town and he asked me to come and get him. My mother thought I was mad. ‘You can’t jump every time he calls,’ she told me. ‘He’ll have no respect for you. It’s ridiculous.’ But I would not be stopped. I was in love. I found him on Highway 101, in the rain, and he told me about the latest fight he’d had with Mayo. He had to get out, he said; he couldn’t stand it any more. Advice: Bacall's mother told her not to 'jump' when Bogart called else he would have 'no respect'. Above, Bacall | | 
+17 ‘She looked very pretty and wore quite a lot of make-up... there is no interim between a shut serious mouth and a flashing grin. 'I came away with the impression that she was amusing and witty – the light meter being placed near her was, she said, “like having your pulse taken. This is my best side – the difference is quite astonishing”. And there was laughter about raising her head in order to shorten the effect of the nose.’ It's the Scottish retreat beloved of Queen Victoria - and subsequent generations of royal holidaymakers, the Queen and the Duke of Cambridge among them, love it just as much. Now, as the Queen arrives at the Aberdeenshire castle to begin her annual summer break, vintage photos reveal just how happy her memories of summers spent there really are. From her earliest visits as a tiny child with her parents King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to 1950s family picnics with the corgis in tow, Balmoral has long been a haven where family pleasures come first. 
+38 Balancing act: Prince Charles perches precariously on a swing pushed by his father with Princess Anne in front during a 1955 summer visit to Balmoral Castle 
+38 Amusing: Prince Charles gets a ride on a sculpture watched by the Queen, King George VI and the Queen Mother, while Prince Philip and Princess Margaret stand behind Original owner: Queen Victoria and Prince Edward with Tsar Nicholas and Empress Alix in 1896 and right, Edward with his grandchildren, including the future George VI 
+38 Cute: An infant Princess Anne wriggles in the arms of the Queen watched by an amused King George VI, Princess Margaret and Queen Mother in a shot taken in 1951 Happy memories: The Queen Mother, left, with one of her corgis in the garden at Balmoral and right, the Queen with Prince Phillip, Prince Charles and Princess Anne 
+38 Fun and games: Princess Anne and Prince Charles play on an improvised see-saw helped by the Duke of Edinburgh and watched by the Queen and a corgi in 1957 Among the charming photos drawn from the Daily Mail archives are lovely shots of the Queen tacking up Princess Anne's first pony and another which shows the Duke of Edinburgh demonstrating his barbecuing skills. Another shows Peter Phillips making one of his first visits to the castle, running off with his mother jogging behind and in another charming picture, tumbling over as the rest of the family line up for a group shot. William and Harry also feature in the photos, both as tiny babies and later as young men. One adorable series of photos shows the two-year-old Duke of Cambridge attempting to scramble up the steps into a plane following a Balmoral break, while others show them with their mother, Princess Diana. The Prince of Wales, or the Duke of Rothesay as he is known in Scotland, also features in many of the photos, toddling around the grounds as a small child and laughing with his brother Prince Andrew as a teenager. Home movies showing the Royals as children is released 
+38 Starting them young: A seven-year-old Prince Charles and Princess Anne aged five play with their ponies with a little help from the Duke of Edinburgh and the Queen 
+38 Last holiday together: This poignant shot shows King George VI on his last Balmoral holiday in 1951 with the Queen, Queen Mother, Princess Margaret and Prince Philip 
+38 Family tradition: The royals always attend the Highland Games at Braemar with the Queen, Duke of Edinburgh and the Queen Mother in this 1954 photo 
+38 Farming is clearly in the genes: A young Prince Charles cuddles up to a calf watched by the Queen and Prince Philip, although Princess Anne seems less sure Family outing: The royal family, including an infant Peter Phillips, enjoy a walk (left) and right, the Duke of Edinburgh pushes Prince Charles and Princess Anne on a swing 
+38 Family outing: The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, Princess Anne and Prince Charles take the corgis for a walk on the estate during a family holiday in 1957 Mother and sons: The Queen holding Prince Andrew during a visit in 1960 and right, playing with Prince Charles and the Queen Mother during their 1951 summer holiday 
+38 Adorable: The Duke of York makes one of his first visits to Balmoral in 1960 and is pictured sitting up in his pram, helped by Princess Anne and the Duke of Edinburgh Adorable: A four-year-old Prince Andrew plays in the grounds of Balmoral Castle during a visit in 1964 and right, with a cousin and some of the royal corgis Charles, who usually uses Birkhall, another property on the estate, for his summer visits, is also seen strolling arm in arm with the Duchess of Cornwall, who is also pictured going for a rainy walk with her dogs. But it's not all fun and games for the royals at Balmoral. The Queen has a long tradition of hosting visiting statesmen and the Prime Minister for parts of her stay at Balmoral with Ghana's first president, Kwame Nkrumah, and US president Dwight. D. Eisenhower among those to have visited. Balmoral, which is privately owned by the Queen, was purchased by Queen Victoria in 1852, although the castle's royal connections are of a considerably older vintage. First mentioned in the 12th century, Balmoral began life as a hunting lodge owned by Robert II of Scotland but had been handed to the Drummond family who built the first castle on the site in 1390. 
+38 Family picnic: The Queen, Princess Anne, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles and an infant Prince Andrew pose for a family snap with the corgis in front of Balmoral 
+38 Naughty: The Queen and Princess Margaret relax against a wall in the sunshine, perhaps unaware that a cheeky Prince Andrew is playing with a stick behind them 
+38 Family photo: (L-R) Princess Anne, the Prince of Wales, the Earl of Wessex, the Duke of York, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh on holiday at Balmoral in 1972 
+38 Family barbecue: The Duke of Edinburgh turns his hand to cooking sausages with a little help from Princess Anne in this charming family photo taken in 1972 
+38 Country pursuits: Summer holidays at Balmoral involve plenty of country walks, as this photo of the Queen, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and Prince Philip reveals 
+38 Is that for me? The Queen looks delighted as an infant Peter Phillips hands her a marigold as the Duke of Edinburgh looks on indulgently 
+38 Enjoying themselves: Prince Andrew aged 19, Prince Charles aged 31, and Prince Edward aged 15 enjoy a family holiday at Balmoral in 1979 Later, the castle became the property of the Earls of Huntly before passing into the Farquharson family. The Farquharsons, committed Jacobites, were involved in both uprisings as well as the Battle of Falkirk in 1746 during which James Farquharson, the then owner, was wounded. With the Jacobites defeated, the estate was declared forfeit and was handed to another branch of the family, the Farquharsons of Auchendryne, who in 1798, sold it to James Duff, 2nd Earl Fife. He, in turn, leased it to Sir Robert Gordon, a younger brother of the Earl of Aberdeen, who lived there from 1830 until his death in 1847. It was then that Queen Victoria, already in love with the rolling Scottish moors, stepped in to buy the property, eventually rebuilding the house and clearing the way for generations of royal holidaymakers. Next generation: Peter Phillips makes a break for it followed by Princess Anne and right, Princess Diana, the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry arrive in 1989 Adorable: Prince William, flanked by Prince Charles, climbs onto an aircraft following his holiday. Determined: Despite the huge gap (for him), William insisted on climbing up himself. Done it! Prince William finally manages to haul himself onto the first step - applauded by his father 
Later years: The Duchess of York arrives at Balmoral for a family break with daughters Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice and nanny Alison Wardley in 1993 
+38 Don't drop him! Prince Harry almost finds himself dropped in the loch in this 1993 snap showing the young prince on a day out with his father, Prince Charles Country fan: The Duchess of Cornwall loves spending time in the country almost as much as Prince Charles and is seen on a rainy walk and arriving at Crathie Church 
+38 Having fun: Prince Charles with the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry during a family visit to Balmoral. During the trip, they went fishing on the River Dee 
+38 On their way: The Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh and the Earl and Countess of Wessex, sets off for Craithie Church on the Balmoral Estate | | |
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