SEND IN THE CROWNS

For V.F.'s photographers and staff, it's been a regal education

BEHIND THE SCENES

The year spent preparing this special issue has been a getting-to-know-you opportunity for V.F.'s photographers and staff and Europe's royals. Mario Testino was already friendly with Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece, but he was introduced to Princess Maxima of the Netherlands by her old friend and former Manhattan neighbor, contributing stylist Kim Meehan. Michel Comte charmed and was charmed by his subjects—two princesses and two dukes— and Jonas Karlsson, who traveled to Spain, Sweden, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Romania, says the royals he met were "very nice people." Contributing stylist Sarajane Hoare, who styled several shoots and interviewed Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia for the Hall of Fame, concurs: "They're all terribly down-toearth and very in touch with the times." David Bailey found Queen Rania to be "beautiful, charming, and accessible," but says he doesn't make a habit of photographing monarchs: "I'm not politically correct enough." Contributing London editor Lucy Nichols, meanwhile, now knows more about the royals than they themselves do: her meticulous research made possible the historic family tree, on page 417.