The Queen, by the photographer who brought you The Beatles

Commissioned by the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Benson captured the monarch in the Audience Room at Buckingham Palace where she usually holds her weekly meeting with the Prime Minister.

The Queen is seen standing near the sheer curtains at the window, looking out with a slight smile on her face.

Dressed in violet, the Queen is also wearing a gold and and diamond brooch featuring thistles, the national emblem of Scotland.

Glasgow-born Benson has spent more than 50 years behind the lens and photographed every American president since Eisenhower and worked with countless celebrities including The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse and Kate Moss.

His 1964 image of The Beatles having a pillow fight in a Paris hotel room during their international tour has become one of the world’s most-recognised images of the pop group.

Benson described photographing the Queen as a privilege.

“To have been asked by the Scottish National Portrait Gallery to photograph Her Majesty The Queen for an official portrait is truly a highlight of my career,” he said.

“I first photographed Her Majesty in Scotland opening a coal mine in 1957, and thereafter visiting towns in Lanarkshire, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and the Western Highlands, and later in London at the opening of Parliament.”

Christopher Baker, director of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh, described the work as “respectful and thoughtful”.