Cecil Beaton was an English fashion photographer, fashionista and notorious tell-all.

While still in middle school, his teachers already recognized his artistic talent. His classmates were apparently overwhelmed by his beautiful singing voice. That’s probably also one of the reasons why Evelyn Waugh (who later on became a very famous novelist) bullied poor Cecil. He also had his own nanny growing up. She happened to own a Kodak camera and he loved to play around with it. His nanny started teaching him the basics of photography and how to develop his own film. It turned out he was pretty darn good at it. Soon he would send his photos off to some of London’s biggest society magazines. Cheeky as he was, he would sometimes write to the magazines under a false name and recommend them his own work. Sly dog.

Even though Cecil wasn’t interested in academia, he still went and studied art history anyway. As I said, he didn’t want to in the first place, so in 1925 he left college without ever earning his degree. He worked for his father very briefly, but a career in timber like his dad wasn’t really Cecil’s cup of tea either. He went on to become one of the most famous fashion photographers of his time. Besides being photographer for British Vogue in 1931, he also photographed the British Royal Family. Cecil absolutely loved Queen E. He liked her so much that he kept her scented hankie as a keepsake. Creepy!

After WW2 he blossomed in yet another art form, designing sets for large Broadway productions, and even landing a role in the 1946 revival of Lady Windermere’s Fan. But besides being a photographer, actor, designer and loverof queens, he was also known for his perfect sense of style. In 1970 he was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame. This list was founded by notorious fashionista Eleanor Lambert in 1940 to boost the reputation of American fashion. Today, Vanity Fair is in charge of the list. Cecil is in very good company; on the list you will also find Sophia Loren, Jacky Kennedy and George Clooney. But then again, apparently also David Beckham.

Cecil had broad taste when it came to lovers. Besides former Olympic fencer Kimmont Hoitsma, he also loved up actress Greta Garbo and dancer Adele Astaire. Yet, the love of his life was art collector Peter Watson Unfortunately the two never got together.

During the 50 years he spent photographing the rich and famous, Cecil kept a diary. You can imagine he had a lot of juicy stuff to tell! Fortunately for us, after his death, they turned his diary into a book so we can all enjoy the gossip! For example, he claimed that Mick Jagger might have been impotent and apparently Elizabeth Taylor was very vulgar and “unladylike." Whatever that means, Cecil.