Lichfield dies at 66 after stroke

PATRICK LICHFIELD, whose charm, royal connections and artistic flair made him one of Britain’s best-known photographers, died yesterday at the age of 66 after suffering a stroke.

For more than 40 years he was almost as famous as the people he photographed, which included rock stars, royalty, the rich and famous and beautiful women in exotic locations.

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth was left “deeply saddened” at the sudden death of her first cousin once removed.

He took the official photographs of the Prince of Wales’s wedding to Lady Diana Spencer in July 1981 and the christenings of Zara Phillips and Louise, daughter of the Earl and Countess of Wessex.

Lichfield died with his family at his hospital bedside in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Lichfield first picked up a camera at the age of six.

It eventually led to a glamorous career in which he was equally as famous for his technical skill with a camera as his easy-going manner behind it.

Former girlfriend and actress Britt Ekland, who was photographed by Lichfield in 1970 and posed for him again two years ago, said: “I am deeply shocked and surprised by his death.”

Novelist Jilly Cooper worked with Lichfield on a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Unipart calendar. “He was just a gorgeous man, lovely and intensely glamorous. He was charming and very kind to the models,” she said.

Actor Nigel Havers, a friend for 25 years, recalled that Lichfield liked to work quickly using a mantra originally coined by the actor David Niven - “you can take a photograph of me for as long as it takes me to drink a pint of Guinness.”

Some of Lichfield’s most famous images were from the 1960s, including the recently recreated shot of singer Marsha Hunt naked with a giant afro for the musical Hair.

He worked for Vogue and was a great supporter of photography’s digital revolution.

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

Film-maker Michael Winner revealed Lichfield once admitted to “stretching” the people in his photographs on the computer “so they looked a little bit thinner.”

“He said ‘It makes them happier’.”

Lichfield was the son of Viscount Anson and Princess Anne of Denmark, who was the Queen Mother’s niece. His long-term partner was Lady Annunziata Asquith.

He had three children with his ex-wife Leonora Grosvenor - a son, Tom, and two daughters, Rose and Eloise.