Behind the Crown: My Life Photographing the Royal Family

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A veteran royal photographer who has captured many moments within the monarchy’s history has coined Harry’s personality in recent years as a “180 turnaround”. Later, on a visit to a youth centre in Māngere, Prince Harry was invited to place a handprint on the wall. With his palm covered with purple paint, he placed it on Edwards' bald head instead. It is Charles, however, who changed Edward’s mind about the nature of the job. “For a long time,” he says, he felt the prince was his quarry. “Some girl would grab him and kiss him and I got a great pic that went in the paper. But one day I realized he had a long way to go before becoming king, but in the meantime, he was trying to help people.

In July 1980, after just three years as The Sun’s royal photographer, a youthful Arthur Edwards was told that then-Prince Charles would be attending a polo tournament that would also be attended by a special young woman called Diana Spencer. Aside from the fact she was blonde, no details were known about the future king’s potential girlfriend, who would become one of the most photographed figures in the world.In Behind the Crown, which came out in November 2022, Edwards writes Camilla "has such a wonderful sense of fun" and "brought a spring to Charles's step." On the other hand, and what this documentary really drives home with actual footage of the Royal Family interacting with Edwards over four decades, is that the truth is much more complicated. Edwards himself explains it in a Zoom interview from London, where he is preparing to cover the coronation this weekend.

Arthur Edwards, 82, who now works for The Sun, made an appearance on Australia’s The Project on Thursday night, where he opened up about the Prince becoming difficult to work with after Meghan Markle came into his life in 2016. He’d say, ‘I didn’t like that picture you did, Arthur’, or ‘So-and-so got this quote wrong’. But he said, ‘I always try to give you guys good pictures’. The thing about Camilla, which is I think her strongest point, she never lost the common touch, and she makes him laugh. I've got pictures of them in the book just laughing together," Edwards said. "She's just always there to support him, and that's her way." The British media intruded on royal family holidays, where they often posed for photographers, hoping they would then be left alone.Edwards says that Camilla’s forte is that she has not lost her connection to the real world. That, and her ability to make people laugh: “I have many photos of them laughing together,” he says. In short, he considers Camilla “a great asset” to the crown. Edwards said Camilla, despite being Queen Consort, has never lost the "common touch", and is very supportive of the King. Edwards offers a complicated assessment of the most successful years of his career. While he admits that he was “aggressive and intrusive”, he says he had healthy relationships with Diana and other key royals.

Diana changed everything, as Edwards points out in the Stuff interview. Edwards says the royal family was previously more stand-offish and rarely interacted with the press, except to talk about the weather. When Lady Di appeared on the scene, the media became more aggressive, bent on turning the public’s obsession with her into a lucrative business. As one of the main players, The Sun spent a large fortune on sending Edwards wherever the Prince and Princess went: “I went on Charles and Diana’s honeymoon,” he says. “When they went skiing, I went skiing. I didn’t go for the first or second day – I went for the whole two weeks. It was a circus. When Diana got on a plane, 30 of us got on the plane with her. Those were the greedy years – the ‘Go, go, go, get, get, get’ years.” Paparazzi pictures of the royals are less common. Catherine, Princess of Wales, takes her own photos of her children and shares them with the press several times a year. It’s a far cry from the unrelenting pressure that Diana and her sons endured. Edwards also has a very high opinion of the queen consort, Camilla, who disarmed him at first with her spontaneity: “Our first tour was the United States, and I remember going to a market north of Los Angeles, and someone gave her a peach or something and she started to eat it, which no royal would do! But she did. She really enjoyed it,” he tells People. “And I remember saying, ‘Diana would never do that.’ But she was different. And she brought a whole new meaning for Prince Charles. He’s now a much happier person. He’s contented. And he always refers to her as ‘my darling wife.’” She also guides the King while the two are out in public. Their close friend and TV star Gyles Brandreth wrote in his book, Elizabeth, about the subtle way Camilla lets him know if she thinks he's talking to much.

Princess Beatrice and Queen Camilla promoted to new roles under King Charles III's reign

HarperNonFiction has bagged a photographic history of the royal family by the Sun’s royal photographer Arthur Edwards. Arthur Edwards was the only photographer who travelled with Princess Diana to the Red Fort in India. Arthur Edwards has a warm relationship with the new King, after photographing him for more than 45 years. Veteran royal photographer Arthur Edwards has opened up about the '180 turnaround' of Harry in recent years- and what he was like before all the drama. Photo / Getty Images

That aggressive paparazzi style… I was aggressive. I was one of the worst. I never stopped. It was just, ‘Get the picture, get the picture.’” Having taken the first public photo of Diana, Edwards also lived through the drama of her death. In between, he watched her two sons, Princes William and Harry grow up. He is a staunch supporter of King Charles and the Queen consort, Camilla, and went from being an aggressive photographer to a friendly acquaintance who is incredibly loyal to his ‘subjects.’ Arthur Edwards has been the Sun's Royal Photographer for over 45 years; the longest-serving of any newspaper. Originally from the East End of London, he is the man behind the most iconic photographs of the most famous family in the world. With commensurate skill and unprecedented access, he has captured the candid moments when protocol is put aside, revealing the true personalities behind the Crown. Arthur Edwards was one of the most aggressive photographers of that era, and also the one who got some of the best photographs. He took pictures of Princes William and Harry at the gates of their school and pursued them during their vacations. “I was aggressive,” he tells Stuff. “I was one of the worst. I never stopped. It was just, ‘Get the picture, get the picture.’” But everything changed on the night of August 31, 1997, when Princess Diana died in a car accident in Paris, while being chased by the paparazzi. Edwards remembers receiving a call at around midnight: “They said, ‘Look, go straight to Heathrow – we’ve chartered a plane for you. It leaves at 3am.’ I landed at 4am, rang the office, and they told me Diana was dead. I went to the tunnel and photographed a little girl laying flowers at the spot where she died. I went to the hospital and convinced them to have a small press pool, to photograph the coffin leaving.Everybody laughed, and I looked a bit stupid. When we were washing up, I said, ‘What did you do that for?’ He said, ‘You went on TV and told everyone I was going bald’. I said, ‘Well, you told that woman yesterday’. He replied, ‘Yeah, but I didn’t need you to tell the whole world!’” He uses words like “nasty” and “treacherous”, and can’t understand how the young man who was once the most popular member of the royal family has become “the most despised”.