The Queen is to appear on the cover of British Vogue for the first time in honour of her Platinum Jubilee, as its editor praises the Royal family’s efforts to shine a spotlight on under-represented people.

       The Queen will star on a special cover of the April issue, headlined: “Platinum Queen: Vogue celebrates Her Majesty’s 70 years on the throne”.

       The photograph was taken by Antony Armstrong-Jones, also known as Lord Snowdon and the husband of Princess Margaret, in 1957 and features the Queen wearing the George IV State Diadem.

       According to Vogue’s archives, the Queen has never before appeared on the cover of an issue. The Duchess of Cambridge was photographed for the cover in 2016 for the magazine’s centenary, and the Duchess of Sussex has been its guest editor.

       Edward Enninful, the editor-in-chief of British Vogue who has been credited with shaking up its pages to celebrate more diverse models and interviewees, used his monthly editor’s letter to explain why he decided to accept his OBE from a monarchy he believes is changing.

       “When I received my OBE for services to diversity in fashion several years ago, I thought carefully about what the decision to accept it would mean,” he writes.

       “Ultimately, I saw an ancient institution that was setting about on a programme of change and if they had noticed and wanted to recognise my work as something worth spotlighting, given the fact my endeavours were all about spotlighting under-represented people too, then I felt comfortable - keen, even - to engage.”

       Enninful built a particularly close relationship with the Duchess of Sussex when she was in Britain, after she emailed him suggesting they collaborate in an email signed “M” and said they had “lots in common”.

       The pair celebrated her guest editorship with an Instagram video of themselves in party hats.

       He is also a global ambassador for the Prince of Wales’s Prince’s Trust, and attended events with the Prince and Duchess of Cornwall when they visited his native Ghana.

       Queen no stranger to magazine covers

       British Vogue will pay “special tribute to Her Majesty The Queen, ahead of the Platinum Jubilee, by looking back on its own unique relationship with the Monarch during her seventy years on the throne”, a spokeswoman said.

       It will have twin front covers: one features the black and white image of Queen in her youth, and the other features Anya Taylor-Joy, the star of Netflix television drama, The Queen’s Gambit, wearing a replica of the George IV State Diadem for” her own fantasy royal dress-up moment”.

       The Queen is no stranger to magazine covers. She appeared on the front of Tatler with her mother when she was just a baby in July 1927, billed as “a recent and quite exclusive image of two of the most popular ladies in the land”.

       She has gone on to be the cover star of everything from Time magazine to Vanity Fair via Punch.

       She has not posed for a new image, although royal-watchers hope she will agree to post for a new photoshoot to celebrate her 70 years on the throne ahead of the June bank holiday celebrations.

       The image was taken by Lord Snowdon in October 1957, a month before the Queen and Prince Philip’s ten-year wedding anniversary.

       The April issue of British Vogue is available on newsstands and via digital download from Tuesday, March 29.