I’VE PHOTOGRAPHED THE ROYALS FOR 50 YEARS — NOW ARTHUR EDWARDS REVEALS WHAT THEY’RE REALLY LIKE BEHIND THE PALACE WALLS, FROM PRINCESS DIANA TO KING CHARLES AND PRINCE WILLIAM
For five decades, Arthur Edwards has had a rare vantage point on the British Royal Family — standing just feet away as history unfolded through weddings, funerals, births, jubilees and a coronation.
Now, after 50 years behind the camera, the veteran Sun photographer is putting his extraordinary career into a new book, sharing more than 100 of his favourite royal photographs alongside stories from a lifetime spent documenting some of the world’s most famous figures.
Remarkably, Edwards is still working full-time at the age of 86. During his career, he has covered around 200 royal tours across more than 120 countries.
Five decades documenting royal history
Edwards took his first photograph of Prince Charles at a polo match in 1976.
Since then, his career has taken him to some of the defining moments in modern royal history. He has photographed seven royal weddings, five royal funerals, seven royal births, three jubilees and a coronation.
In 2003, Edwards was awarded an MBE for his outstanding services to newspapers.
He was also the first press photographer to photograph Lady Diana Spencer, and was among those who recognised early on that she was the young woman Prince Charles would eventually marry.
Diana would become one of the most important figures in Edwards’ career.
For 17 years, until her tragic death in 1997, he travelled around the world with her and eventually became known as her favourite photographer.
From Diana to Charles and William
Over the years, Edwards developed unusually close working relationships with members of the Royal Family.
Today, he is well known and respected by King Charles, Queen Camilla and Prince William.
His photographs have captured the royals in major public moments, but his new book also promises a more personal account of what it has been like to spend so much time around them.
One photograph featured in his collection shows Charles laughing while holding a teacup at a 2014 tea party with Lorraine Kelly and Penny Lancaster.
Another captures Edwards himself at work, camera in hand, illustrating the extraordinary career that has kept him photographing the Royal Family for half a century.
Former Sun columnist Piers Morgan has described Edwards as “one of the greatest newspaper photographers in history”.
What Edwards really thinks of the royals
His new book does more than showcase his photography.
Edwards also reflects on the people he has encountered throughout his career, including Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and his former wife, Sarah Ferguson.
After spending so many years alongside members of the Royal Family, Edwards has witnessed their public duties and personal moments from a perspective few photographers have experienced.
His account offers a look back at the people behind the official photographs and the remarkable events he has been there to record.
A lifetime behind the camera
Edwards, a father of three, has spent much of his adult life following the Royal Family around the world, documenting their tours and milestones for newspaper readers.
His new book, Cup Of Tea, Arthur?, will bring together more than 100 of his favourite photographs while also telling the story of his own career.
The book is published by HarperCollins and is due to be released on November 2.
Looking back on his extraordinary career, Edwards says he has spent the past 50 years doing what he considers the best job in the world.
Now, he is opening the archive and sharing the stories behind the photographs that have defined his remarkable time covering the Royal Family.