She was the longest-reigning British monarch in history, not to mention the longest-serving female head of state ever, and Queen of Canada. From the British throne she witnessed everything from the moon landing to the Mars rover, social revolutions, geopolitical upheaval, shifting cultural mores and the incredible advancements of the digital age.  

The Queen was also a tether that connected us to the traditions and institutions she represented, a common thread that runs through generations. She was the face on our currency, the portrait hanging in your school, and the likeness depicted in your favourite films and TV shows.   

And as she grew from young princess to reigning Queen in the public eye, she also became a symbol for steadfastness, longevity, living with vitality, and aging with grace and dignity.  

It’s those traits that landed Queen Elizabeth II on the cover of Zoomer magazine six times. 

From exclusive portraits photographed by Canadian rocker Bryan Adams to an illustration of the monarch alongside a moose by Canuck artist Charles Pachter, the Queen’s covers — and stories that accompany them — always prove a favourite among Zoomer editors and readers alike. 

Here, to mark her 100th birthday, we revisit every Zoomer cover featuring Queen Elizabeth II.   

– APRIL 2009 –

Zoomer magazine launched in October 2008 with a portrait of Wayne Gretzky — shot by Bryan Adams — on the cover. 

Six months later, in April 2009, Adams supplied Zoomer with yet another original cover image — this time of the Queen herself.

Six months later, in April 2009, on the occasion of her Her Majesty birthday — she was turning 83 that year — we published an exclusive portrait of the Queen by Adams – her Zoomer cover debut. 

“The portrait is the Queen as she’s never been seen before. No one gets that laugh out of her. You rarely see that in a sitting portrait, unless she’s out at the races or something,” Suzanne Boyd, editor-in-chief of Zoomer magazine, recalls. “And the [shot] of her in her queenly suit surrounded by the wellies was such a great juxtaposition. It just tells you a lot about her, that photograph … and that we could publish it was very thrilling.”

The photo was snapped by Adams in 2002, when he was among a handful of Commonwealth photographers given an opportunity to photograph Her Majesty for her Golden Jubilee. In 2003, the image was released by Canada Post as a postage stamp.  

– MARCH 2012 –

The effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, by artist Susanna Blunt, was described by the Royal Canadian Mint at the time as, “A more mature and less formal portrait of Her Majesty … The effigy exudes both poise and strength — two qualities that have defined Her Majesty’s reign. It’s a more modern representation of the long-reigning Queen of Canada, an extraordinary person who was not born to rule, but who … dedicated her life to duty and to the service of the Commonwealth.”

“Her visage, her portrait, her profile is shorthand and it’s just such an immediate stamp on your brain when you see that,” Boyd adds. “It just shows the power of her image and the symbolism and how ingrained it is.”

Queen Elizabeth II first appeared on a Canadian coin in 1953 — the year of her coronation — and we’ve jingled her effigy around in our pockets and change purses ever since. Every time we pulled out a penny, nickel, dime, quarter or loonie to slip into a vending machine or scratch a lottery ticket, the Queen was there. Making a call on a payphone? The Queen was there. Laying a quarter on the railroad track as the train came barreling along? The Queen was there — and was likely left feeling a little flat.   

And then there’s the paper currency — Her Majesty’s face at various ages and stages appeared in our birthday cards, was passed across tables to pay for meals and still peeks back at us from the ATM slot.  

They say that money talks. In the case of Canadian currency, it tells the life story of one of the most remarkable figures of the last century. 

– JUNE 2012 –

In the spring of 2012, Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee was on everyone’s mind. And to mark the milestone, Zoomer’s June 2012 issue featured a very Canadian portrait of the Queen alongside a silhouetted moose, all created by artist Charles Pachter.  

“At this point people were already saying, ‘Wow, she’s still going,’” Boyd says of the Queen at that time. “And with so much energy and so much drive. And you know, it was such an accomplishment after the hard years the Royal Family had in the ’90s that she was there at the top of popularity.”

The decision to celebrate Her Majesty with a Pachter portrait came as a no-brainer. 

“Charles Pachter — I mean, he’s our Warhol,” Boyd notes. “The way he’s just taken these symbols of Canadiana and made them into pop art, starting with the flag. And then I absolutely love this idea of the Queen of the North — the antlers and the moose together with the Queen.”

Boyd says that, while there’s humour in Pachter’s portraits, “it’s also quite deep when you talk about the relationship of Canada and the monarchy. So we had never done a painting [on the cover] before, and we haven’t done one since, but I’m really glad we did that cover because it shows the Queen in a way only Canadians can while talking about how she’s inspired art and culture.”

– MAY 2016 –

The occasion: the monarch’s 90th birthday. And while most nonagenarians were enjoying well-earned R&R, the Queen was still working away — as evidenced by the cover photo featuring her famous red box containing the state papers that she attended to daily.   

“There’s so many ways you can show the Queen: country woman, sovereign, grandmother. But, really the fact that she has always been a working woman,” Boyd explains. “And the red boxes are legendary, right? They come to wherever she is and she has to go through them. Her father taught her how to do it. So there’s a lot of mythology wrapped in the red box.”

The cover image was photographed by Mary McCartney, daughter of Paul and Linda, which Boyd notes carried its own significance. Linda McCartney was, of course, an accomplished photographer, while Paul McCartney — who received a knighthood in 1997 — remains a staunch supporter of the Queen, his reverence for the monarch dates back to his childhood when, at age 10, he took part in an essay contest for which he wrote about “our lovely young Queen” ahead of Her Majesty’s coronation. “So [it’s] the fact that it’s his daughter doing the picture — a female photographer — that gives the photo more resonance,” Boyd says. 

“I think it’s interesting that we’re already talking about the next generation of royals,” Boyd continues, pointing to the shifts in the Royal Family dynamic — and the exit of Harry and Meghan from royal duties — that were still to come. “That innocent cover line is kind of foreshadowing what’s happening with the next generation.”

– SEPTEMBER 2017 –

Eight years after Bryan Adams’ portrait of the Queen appeared on Zoomer’s April 2009 cover, another photo from the same shoot — this time featuring both Her Majesty and Prince Philip — graced this special tribute edition of the magazine. It was published in the Royal couple’s 70th anniversary year.

“These were never before seen images,” Boyd notes. “So this was another Zoomer exclusive.”

“This is when we acknowledged how important Prince Philip was to her reign,” Boyd says. “It was really to celebrate Prince Philip. And Bryan took the photo of him standing behind the Queen because that’s what he’d done in public for years.”

– JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 –

The image of the Queen in a white dress pinned with the Insignia of Canada medal and photographed by Chris Jackson — the three-time Royal Photographer of the Year and the royal photographer for Getty Images — served as her official Canadian portrait. It also arrived at what would prove a crossroads in the Queen’s life. 

After a tumultuous time, including COVID, the loss of Prince Philip, the scandal beginning to engulf Prince Andrew and Prince Harry and his wife Meghan’s acrimonious exit from the Royal Family, the Queen remained a shining example of duty and dignity. 

As Boyd notes about this cover, “She still always rises above. It was a great time to celebrate her, still riding horses, still working, still doing all that.”