Photographer whose images epitomised Sixties

Patrick Lichfield:   Patrick Lichfield, who has died aged 66, had a passion for capturing people on camera that made him one…

Patrick Lichfield:   Patrick Lichfield, who has died aged 66, had a passion for capturing people on camera that made him one of Britain's best-known photographers.

His images of the Swinging Sixties epitomised the era and immortalised many of the famous faces associated with the decade.

The fifth Earl of Lichfield first picked up a camera at the age of six. Snapshots he took of his first cousin once removed, Queen Elizabeth, at a cricket match against Eton, were promptly confiscated by an officious monitor.

Later in life, he would be called on time after time to take photographs of the royals on historic public occasions and personal family moments.

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After starting on his own in the early 1960s, he shot pictures for Life and Queen magazines and a number of national daily newspapers. One of his biggest breaks came when he was given a five-year contract with American Vogue by Diana Vreeland.

In July 1981, he was presented with the formidable task of taking the official photographs at the wedding of the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer.

He used a football referee's whistle and gave a few loud blasts to get the attention of the royal party for group shots. His unpretentious London studio was frequently visited by the stars and he snapped many famous faces over the years, ranging from actor Colin Farrell to football hero Pele.

An exhibition two years ago at the National Portrait Gallery was dedicated to his 40-year career and championed his role as a chronicler of the 1960s.

Among his celebrated images was the group portrait Swinging London featuring Roman Polanski, David Hockney and Lady Antonia Fraser.

He also famously shot iconic 1960s singer Marsha Hunt in the nude with a giant afro for the musical Hair.

Lord Lichfield recently retook the picture with Hunt, who is now in her late 50s and has had a mastectomy after suffering from breast cancer, sitting in the same pose.

Other stars he photographed ranged from Joanna Lumley and Michael Caine to an intimate portrait of Mick and Bianca Jagger at their wedding in St Tropez in 1971.

He once said: "My career meant I was surrounded by better-than-average-looking women and many became my girlfriends - but it was just as exciting for me as a photographer to be able to make a lasting image of them." In another interview he recalled how promiscuity was rife in the 1960s. "We did behave quite badly, but it wasn't so much an immoral as an amoral decade," he said. "I drank too much - we all did - smoked the odd joint and saw the world on the arm of a pretty girl at somebody else's expense."

Lord Lichfield once photographed the Duke and Duchess of Windsor in their Paris exile and was having trouble getting them to smile. He deliberately fell off his chair to make the former king and his wife laugh and produced the photo he wanted.

Lord Lichfield was awarded fellowships of both the British Institute of Professional Photographers and the Royal Photographic Society and was a great supporter of photography's digital revolution.

Born Thomas Patrick John Anson on April 25th, 1939, he was the son of Viscount Anson and Princess Anne of Denmark, who was the queen mother's niece.

He inherited the Earldom of Lichfield from his paternal grandfather.

Harrow-educated, he trained at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and spent seven years as a regular soldier in the Grenadier Guards, before leaving to become an assistant in a commercial London studio and then starting work on his own in the early 1960s.

In 1975, he married Lady Leonora Grosvenor, but they later divorced following reports of his affair with a model.

They had one son, Tom, and two daughters, Rose and Eloise.

He later described his life at the time of the marriage breakdown as "in turmoil".

His estate was Shugborough, near Cannock Chase in Staffordshire, and his long-term partner was Lady Annunziata Asquith.

Lord Lichfield was present for one particular famous celebrity spat.

In 1981, when diva Grace Jones slapped TV host Russell Harty across the face live on air, it was Lord Lichfield to whom Harty had been turning away to speak.

In 1992, he fractured his skull after falling over while trying to pull a friend's boot off at his home on the Caribbean island of Mustique.

He recalled once how in the 1960s, he was sent on a gastronomic tour of France, ate so much he could hardly move, and had long hair and wore a fur coat - fashions that had not then caught on across the Channel.

He added: "Memories like that make me realise what a privileged life I have had - despite the emotional ups and downs."

Patrick Lichfield: born April 25th, 1939; died November 11th, 2005