Pictured is an exclusive look at a photograph taken at RAF Warboys from a new IWM book exploring the role of the Royal Family in conflict.

To coincide with Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, IWM is publishing The Royal Family in Wartime, as part of a new series of photography publications.

One of the photographs within The Royal Family in Wartime depicts Queen Elizabeth, the future Queen Mother, inspecting Lancaster bomber crews on a visit to RAF Warboys, a station of No 8 Pathfinder Group, on February 10, 1944.

The crew are lined up in front of an Avro Lancaster of No 156 Squadron.

Showcasing more than 50 photographs from IWM’s vast collections, the new publication brings together rarely seen images to chronologically explore the Royal Family’s relationship with war and conflict, from the First World War to today.

Forming part of IWM’s wider Platinum Jubilee programming, The Royal Family in Wartime and an accompanying exhibition at IWM London are the first time the museum has delved into its collections to examine the enduring connections between crown and conflict.

Presented with an introduction from IWM curator Kate Clements and featuring detailed captions exploring the story behind each photograph, the book depicts the many and varied ways that members of Britain’s Royal Family have played their part in wartime over the past century, from the Queen, King George VI and the Queen Mother to Princess Diana and the late Duke of Edinburgh.

Kate Clements said: “Exploring IWM’s incredible photography archive to uncover the links between the Royal Family and armed conflict was fantastic.

“The images in this publication reveal just how involved members of the Royal Family have been in moments when the nation was at war over the past century, as well as their continued support of the Armed Forces, veterans and wartime commemoration.

“From Princess Mary’s Christmas Gift Fund during the First World War to the military service of the Prince of Wales and his sons, readers will gain a brand-new understanding into these enduring links between crown and conflict.”

Highlights within The Royal Family in Wartime include a series of photographs of the Queen, when she was Princess Elizabeth, serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service during the Second World War.

This made her the first woman in the Royal Family to enlist as a full-time member of the armed services.

Other photographs shine a light on the official visits of King George V to the Western Front during the First World War, annual services of remembrance led by the Royals, and the role of the Duke of Cambridge as IWM’s patron.

Striking images also illustrate the often personal effect of conflict on the Royal Family, with one such photograph depicting King George VI and Queen Elizabeth inspecting bomb damage at Buckingham Palace during the Blitz in September 1940.

The Royal Family in Wartime, published to accompany The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee at IWM, will be available to order at iwmshop.org.uk from 12 May 2022.