A portrait of the Queen by British photographer David Bailey has been released in honour of her 88th birthday on Monday.
The Queen celebrates her actual birthday on 21 April, and her official birthday on a Saturday in June, which this year falls on 14 June in the UK.
The black and white photo, which shows the Queen smiling, was taken in March. She is pictured wearing pearls, and a dress by Angela Kelly, who has served as personal assistant and senior dresser to her since 2002. The 76-year-old said: "I've always been a huge fan of the Queen. She has very kind eyes with a mischievous glint. I've always liked strong women, and she is a very strong woman."
The photograph, taken at Buckingham Palace, was commissioned on behalf of the government's "Great" campaign, which aims to promote trade, tourism, investment and education throughout the UK.
Recently-appointed culture secretary Sajid Javid said the portrait would help to support the aims of the campaign, which he said was to "showcase everything that is great about the UK to an international audience".
The British monarchy is one of the biggest drivers of tourism in the UK, and brings in an estimated ￡500m a year from overseas tourism, according to Visit Britain. According to "Great" campaign director Conrad Bird, the campaign has delivered economic returns worth more than ￡500mto the economy.据英国媒体报道，4月21日是英国女王伊丽莎白二世88岁的生日，此前一天，英国王室公布了女王的最新肖像照以示庆祝。
英国女王每年庆祝两个“生日”：4月21日是她真正的生日，有亲朋好友与其私下庆祝；英国当局则通常选定6月的某一个星期六，为女王庆祝官方生日，今年的具体日期为6月14日。
这张黑白照片是今年3月在白金汉宫拍摄，由英国著名摄影师戴维•贝利操刀完成。照片中，女王笑容异常灿烂、双眼神采奕奕。“我一直都是女王的忠实粉丝。她有一双慈祥、亲切的眼睛，同时闪耀着顽皮、淘气的光芒。”76岁的贝利说，“我喜欢强干的女人，而她是其中的佼佼者。”
新任命的英国文化大臣赛义德•加维德介绍称，女王的最新肖像照是由一项名为“非凡英国”（Britian is GREAT）的政府宣传活动委托拍摄，该活动旨在推广英国的贸易、旅游、投资和教育产业，“‘非凡英国’项目将向世界人民展现英国方方面面的精彩和过人之处，女王无疑是最佳的形象大使”。
目前，英国王室是该国旅游事业蓬勃发展的重要推动力之一，估计每年能够带来大约5亿英镑的海外旅游收入。而“非凡英国”项目预计将创造超过5亿英镑的经济收益。