The Queen’s longevity — and a vital longevity at that, a major facet of the Zoomer ethos — is the reason we’ve chosen to celebrate her birthday, which falls on April 21. Advances in science, medicine and hygiene have contributed to the remarkable worldwide jump in centenarian numbers. Equally significant, however, is our latter-day awareness of the important role diet, fitness and staying actively engaged plays in allowing us to live longer — and healthier — lives. It is surely something to aim for and certainly in the realm of possibility for all of us. Our findings in “The Royal Secrets of Longevity,” which we explore in this issue, are not just, ahem, fit for a queen. 

When Bryan Adams, who has photographed all of Zoomer’s covers so far, first showed me the portrait he took of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II that graces our cover, I immediately thought of a fragment from the Rudyard Kipling poem, If — the one that reads, “If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue/ Or walk with kings nor lose the common touch.” 

Though one of the wealthiest women — and perhaps the most famous — in the world, the Queen has been virtuous in never wavering from the pledge she made on the occasion of her 21st birthday: “I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service …” And, as for that common touch, the informality of this photograph, with the wellies lined up and that genuine grin — an expression the Queen had never before bestowed in an official royal portrait — shows that quality that makes this monarch so beloved. 

“It’s a glimpse of the real person,” says Adams of the portrait, characteristically understating the iconic result of the five-minute sitting, which took place at the garden entrance of Buckingham Palace in October 2001 to commemorate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee year, which followed in 2002. He was one of four photographers from the Commonwealth invited to take portraits of the Queen. Adams, as we all know, is famously Canadian and got the nod because of his work on behalf of The Prince’s Trust. 

In 2003, I was working with Adams on a photo shoot in Ottawa, when he took time out to attend a ceremony at Rideau Hall where then-Governor General Adrienne Clarkson and officials from Canada Post unveiled a new 49-cent stamp, reissued in 2004 as a 50-cent stamp. It was a close-up of the Queen’s smiling face from a cropped version of the portrait — here, on this cover, is the first time it has been published in its full-frame original form. “The smile was one in a million. That’s why it won out,” recalls Adams on why he chose this particular shot. From this snapshot moment also came the more traditional, never-before-seen portrait that accompanies our “Long Live the Queen” feature — the wellies are still there, though. Adams didn’t waste any of his alloted minutes: yet another Adams’ portrait, this time of both Her Majesty and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, is now in the National Portrait Gallery in London. 

“It was all a massive honour,” recalls Adams of the double thrill of being asked to photograph the Queen and then having that photograph elevated to a Canadian postage stamp. And it’s an honour he is about to experience for himself. Adams is one of four Canadian music legends who will be pictured on the second recording-artist series to be issued by Canada Post this summer. The image to 
be used? A portrait that Adams took of himself in June of last 
year for Zoomer’s Winter 2008 cover. Remember, folks: you saw it here first.