Queen Elizabeth II poses with corgis for Vanity Fair cover

The image by celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz was an additional picture taken when the monarch posed for three official photographs at Easter to mark her 90th birthday.

Sat on a rug in the grounds of Windsor Castle the monarch has been captured with her four pets - two corgis, Willow and Holly, and two dorgis, Candy and Vulcan.

She is holding one of her dogs while the other three are at her feet.

The Duke of Edinburgh also posed with the Queen for the photographer and the picture will appear in the magazine, out on Friday, alongside the three official images.

This image released by Vanity Fair shows the cover of the magazine's June/July issue, featuring Britain's Queen Elizabeth II with her four corgis, photographed by Annie Leibovitz at Windsor Castle earlier this year.Source:Supplied

The couple are sat on a sofa in Windsor Castle next to a roaring fire.

Leibovitz, who once photographed actress Demi Moore naked and heavily pregnant for the cover of Vanity Fair, told the magazine: “The most moving, important thing about this shoot is that these were all her ideas.”

The photographer added: “She wanted to be photographed with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren; her husband, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh; her daughter, Anne, the Princess Royal; and her corgis.

“I was told how relaxed she was at Windsor, and it was really true.

“You get the sense of how at peace she was with herself, and very much enthralled with her family.”