Pop culture photographer Leibovitz to shoot the Queen

Annie Leibovitz will photograph the Queen for an official portrait to mark her state visit to the United States in May, Buckingham Palace said Tuesday.

Leibovitz, a former Rolling Stone photographer who has shot celebrities such as John Lennon, Nelson Mandela and Nicole Kidman, said it would be a "very formal and painterly" portrait of the Queen.

"I feel like I'm a documentarian and want to take a very simple portrait," Leibovitz said.

She met the Queen Tuesday at a reception for Americans living in the U.K. andis in negotiations with the palace over what themonarch will wear.

Leibovitz will shoot at Buckingham Palace in the next few days and the photo will be released May 2.

The Queen and her husband, Prince Philip, are planning to visit Virginia May 3-4 on the 400th anniversary of the establishment of Jamestown, the first English settlement in the New World. They will be at the Kentucky Derby May 5, then go to Washington to meet with President George W. Bush and his wife Laura.

It isthe Royals'fourth state visit to the U.S., with the first coming 50 years ago, when Dwight Eisenhower was president.

Leibovitz, 57, is known for witty and powerful images from popular culture. She has been a portrait photographer for Vanity Fair since 1983 and once had an exhibition of her work at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

She shot a portrait of a naked Lennon hugging a fully clothed Yoko Ono on the day before he was killed. She has also photographed a pregnant Demi Moore, Whoopi Goldberg in the bath and Christo fully wrapped so he is invisible.