Patrick Lichfield, who died of a stroke in Oxford on 10 November, 2005 aged 66 was a photographer with Royal connections who created some of the defining images of his time.

First cousin to the Queen, the elegantly-dressed, bouffant-haired charmer with the trademark crisp white handkerchief, became best known for capturing the Royal family at informal moments.

Not taken seriously at first by the photographic elite, his fashion and society pictures of Britt Ekland, Jane Birkin, Joanna Lumley, Roman Polanski and David Hockney catapulted him into the forefront of the Carnaby Street scene where he became the epitome of Swinging 60s London.

His best known portraits are a naked Marsha Hunt, star of the musical HAIR, revealing nothing for American Vogue in 1968, Mick and Bianca Jagger caught in close-up at their wedding in St Tropez, a rare smile from the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and the Queen talking to her horse. He was the official photographer at the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981 and was chosen to immortalise Margaret Thatcher on her 80th birthday.

Thomas Patrick John Anson was born on 25 April, 1939, and succeeded as the fifth Earl of Lichfield in 1960. Professionally, he liked to be known as Patrick Lichfield. He began taking pictures at the age of six while at Harrow and took his first pictures of the Queen when playing cricket at Eton. They were instantly confiscated.

After seven years as a soldier at Sandhurst and in the Grenadier Guards, he bought himself out of the army in 1962 to work as a darkroom assistant in a London studio. His family were less than pleased and immediately cut off his allowance. He said they considered his choice of career as "far worse than being an interior decorator and only marginally better than hairdressing".

He started out on his own in the early 60s and his first photographic subjects were mainly debutantes he met on the social circuit for glossy magazines like Queen and the social pages of the tabloids.

His big break was being summoned by the visonary Diana Vreeland of American Vogue, first of the fashion editor divas. Sent by her in 1966 to catch up with the Duke of Windsor and his wife, Wallis Simpson , he became part of the 'Brit pack' of photographers working in New York, including Lord Snowdon, Cecil Beaton, David Bailey and Norman Parkinson

In 1975 he married Lady Leonora Grosvenor, of the Westminster family, and they had a son, Tom and two daughters Rose and Eloise. He always said flying round the world photographing glamorous women, combined with gossip in the press, took its toll and they divorced in 1986.

Lady Annunziata Asquith became his next long term partner and together they became the epitome of upper class chic, modelling clothes for Burberry. He created and modelled his own line of clothes, 'the Lichfield Line' for Americans and also invested in several expensive restaurants.

In 1978 he started a 17-year relationship with the Unipart Calendar, shooting in exotic locations worldwide. He also photographed every Royal family in Europe and many of the world's most beautiful women, producing books on both subjects.

In 2003 his career was celebrated with an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, and he was awarded fellowships of both the British Institute of Professional Photographers and the Royal Photographic Society.

Lord Lichfield could easily have just remained a society photographer but to his credit took advantage of the moment that class boundaries were being stretched to include film and pop stars and and created his unique style. He also recognised the demand for less formal, more human pictures of the Royal family . He had the gift to get on with people from all backgrounds, treating everyone he photographed with great respect, becoming friends with many.

He never took himself too seriously and used his charm and wit to make his subjects relax. He made the formal Duke and Duchess of Windsor smile, by falling off his chair and got his famous wedding shots of Charles and Diana by pretending to take pictures with the rest of the press pack but actually waiting until everyone else had finished. He always maintained that the last shot of the day was usually the best.

Although he put a lot of energy into creating an arboretum and maintaining Shugborough, his 18th family home, like Princess Margaret he also had a home on Mustique in the Caribbean. Sadly his love of pranks backfired there in 1992, when, helping a guest remove their boots, he fell backwards over a wall onto an 18 feet drop and was seriously injured. He never really completely recovered.

Although he knew that being a member of the Royal family meant he wasn't always taken seriously professionally, it was his passion for over 40 years. He admitted "I am happier taking photos than doing anything else in life."