“My agent called and said, ‘Are you free on Wednesday? We’d like you to shoot the Queen’”: how Bryan Adams ended up photographing the Queen of England

Bryan Adams has revealed that he was once asked to photograph Queen Elizabeth II at the last minute.

In an interview in the brand new issue of Classic Rock - guest edited by the Canadian rocker himself – Adams reveals how his parallel career as a professional photographer has led to him working with some of the most famous people on the planet, including the late British monarch.

Adams was asked to shoot the Queen in 2012, ahead of her Golden Jubilee – and he was only given a few days’ notice to prepare.

“I was asked to do it by my agent in London, Camera Press,” Adams tells Classic Rock. “What it was, everybody in the Commonwealth each had a representative granted a five-minute session with the Queen for the Golden Jubilee. I was Canada’s representative.

“My agent called me and said: ‘Are you busy on Wednesday? We’d like you to shoot the Queen for us and it’ll be at her house.” I even said: “What house is that?” Buckingham Palace.

“I think I got 10 minutes, maybe 15, because she liked to chat. I was shooting on 10 x 8, which is a large-format camera. When I’d set it up, she came down with the corgis. She said something like: ‘Oh, we haven’t seen one of those for a while.‘ I think she was curious to see how it was going to go.”

Adams’ photographic portfolio also includes pictures of A-listers Mick Jagger and Kate Moss.

“I love the photos I did with Mick Jagger,” says Adams. “He could be the best person I’ve ever worked with. Amazing energy, and he was up for everything. Of course, he also had some great music to play in the studio.

“Kate Moss was another great person to work with. The first time I worked with her, her agent called me up and said: ‘Kate’s coming over, she’s in the taxi, and she only wants to wear black stockings.’

“We did the photos in my kitchen. But I also had the builders in. They were trooping in and out of the house. Kate was so nonchalant. The builders would be like: ‘Alright, Kate!’ And she was going: ‘Yeah, alright.‘ Meanwhile she was sitting there in just her pants.”

To read the full interview, as well see a selection of Adams’ photographic work, pick up the brand new issue of Classic Rock, onsale now. Order it online and have it delivered straight to your home.