“In 2006 we planned to do a portrait inside Buckingham Palace. Without horses. I did a recce at the Palace in August and chose this portrait of George III as the backdrop. The shoot was planned for November. I then went travelling in the Himalayas with my wife. We came across a tiny tea house and I decided to see if I could use their telephone - in tea houses all over India you could pick up the telephone and dial anywhere in the world. Then at the end of our call, you’d get a ticket-tape bill, which was dirt cheap. I picked up my messages and one was from Buckingham Palace, asking me to please call urgently. I immediately worried they were going to cancel the sitting with the Queen. I got through to the Queen’s senior dresser, Angela Kelly. So I’m in this tiny room full of smoke with all the shepherds around having their tea, and Angela Kelly says, “Oh, thank you so much for calling. We would just like to know what you would like the Queen to wear.” On the day of the shoot I told the Queen the story to break the ice and she had a good laugh.”

— Henry Dallal