Royal photographer Arthur Edwards knows King Charles, the real man behind the crown
Royal Sun photographer Arthur Edwards has gained unprecedented access to King Charles III for more than 45 years. See the video and what he has learnt through his work.
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Dancing in the desert in India. Playing with his dog after a polo game. Tobogganing with his son in Switzerland. Wearing a fake nose and glasses in a prank for the press.
They are not the images you would expect of a monarch, but they show King Charles III at his candid best.
And for them, we have Arthur Edwards to thank.
For nearly five decades, the esteemed photographer has been on the royal beat for the UK newspaper The Sun, gaining unrestricted access to the most documented family in the world.
Edwards was there when Charles married Diana, then later Camilla.
He snapped Charles taking son William to meet his new brother Harry.
He was on tour when Charles met Mother Teresa.
And, poiniently, he was there when Charles lost his “mommy”, Queen Elizabeth II.
“The royals became the other family in my life,” he said.
Here he shares the stories behind his favourite photographs — both sombre and joyous — of the soon-to-be coronated King with Europe Correspondent DANIELLE GUSMAROLI.
CHARLES AND HIS POLO PONIES AT SMITHS LAWN, WINDSOR, 1975:
One Sunday morning in 1975, The Mirror’s royal reporter James Whitaker invited me to the polo.
At the end of the game, I captured the then-Prince Charles feeding his polo pony sugar. The picture was published and started me on this road as a royal photographer.
Despite his awkwardness about his messy hair at the time, he saw the funny side. When he smiles, he’s like the Queen, his face lights up. He was a young man in the navy at the time. This is the picture the Prince and Camilla tweeted to wish me a happy 80th birthday.
PRINCE CHARLES AND HIS MENTORS AT TIDWORTH POLO CLUB, 1978.
This is the only shot I have of the prince with Lord Mountbatten — who was like Charles’s grandfather — and the Duke (of Edinburgh).
Charles was playing polo for a Royal navy match at Tidworth, a town in the West Country, and had just won. This picture has been used maybe a thousand times throughout the world because Lord Mountbatten has his arm around Charles’s shoulder, which shows such familiarity between them. The Prince was Mountbatten’s grand nephew and called him Uncle Dickie. His death a year later (he was assassinated by the IRA) hit the prince pretty hard. They all look familiar in this picture — it’s the Greek nose.
RESTING AFTER A POLO MATCH WITH HIS JACK RUSSELL, 1979
I love this tender moment of Charles with his Jack Russell Tigger after a tough game of polo at Smiths Lawn, Windsor. He was relaxing with a cold drink, Tigger came along and Charles’s given him a tit bit of some sort. The prince loves dogs, and so, too, does Camilla who in fact has since taken on two Jack Russells from Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, called Beth and Bluebell, who now live at Buckingham Palace. The juxtaposition of this picture is that it’s taken at the exact same spot where his horse collapsed and died on another day.
THE PRINCE SPREADS HIS WINGS AT RAF BENSON, 1979
This is a Tiger Moth at the RAF air force Base Benson, where the royal flight used to go from. He’s kitted out like a first world war pilot: the leather, the silk scarf, the woollen jacket, the shoes, the boots, the gloves. He was the co-pilot. He’d never actually piloted but he had a go that day with the Royal Air Force Cranwell flight lieutenant, John Hardie. This plane was 44 years old. Charles would have been about 31 and single. He was so young and carefree.
MEETING MOTHER TERESA IN 1980.
We did a month-long tour of India and Nepal and every day was really long and hot. We were in Calcutta meeting Mother Teresa. She told me the day before she would pray with the prince. You can’t photograph the royals at prayer, but look at that smile she’s giving him.
Prince Charles is a very spiritual man.
His wife Diana became good friends with Mother Teresa and they both died in the same week.
No one really knows the extent of work Charles did with Mother Teresa, he was never one to blow his own trumpet. He always says ‘history will judge me’.
KLOSTERS, SWITZERLAND, 1980
The royals used to go skiing here annually and every morning, we’d see Charles off from the chalet. His host Patti Palmer Tomkinson came out one day saying ‘My Uncle Harry is joining us this morning.’ It’s a name they made up. Charles arrived wearing glasses, a false nose and moustache. He only wore it for about 30 seconds. The photographers were like sharks after red meat trying to get a picture of the slapstick prince. He’s a joker.
He doesn‘t do pranks like that now he’s King. Those days have gone.
WILLIAM AND PRINCE CHARLES AT ST MARY’S HOSPITAL, LONDON, 1984:
Prince Charles is often described as a cold father. He never was. He never boasts about anything, he just gets on with it privately. This picture shows the tenderness he has for his children.
What’s really sad is this picture shows William going to see Harry for the first time and now they no longer speak.
Harry’s book Spare paints that he was dismissive — that is wrong. And Camilla isn‘t a wicked stepmother, she’s the nicest person in the world.
PRINCE HARRY AND PRINCE CHARLES IN KLOSTERS, SWITZERLAND, 1997
Charles is sledding in Switzerland with Harry when they hit a bump, aggravating the prince’s bad back. It’s a great picture of their faces. He loves his son so much. This is how close he was with Harry. He doesn’t want this (the fights) to carry on any longer.
WEDDING REHEARSALS AT ST PAUL‘S CATHEDRAL, 1981
This is my lucky picture. I was driving past the cathedral on my way to the office in Fleet Street and saw Charles’s car parked outside. I dumped my car, grabbed the camera and rushed across as they came down the steps together, after their wedding rehearsal. Diana reached out for Charles’s hand when she saw me.
We ran this picture on page one saying how thin she had become thinking it was because everyone wants to be a skinny bride. In fact, it was because she was bulimic by this time.
SKIING IN KOSTERS, SWITZERLAND, 2004
Prince William and Charles were posing for a photocall and I said, “William, come on, put your arm around your dad.” As he did that, Prince Charles tickled his ribs. It‘s just lovely because it shows the love he has for William. Every now and then the public image drops and you see their bond full of humour and love.
PRINCE CHARLES MARRIES CAMILLA 2005
Marrying Camilla was a huge gamble. She was the woman Diana called the third person in the marriage. She was genuinely hated by a big section of the community and I wondered what was in it for her because I thought she would be pilloried. But it never happened and now she’s our Queen. She’s become so loved and when I go on jobs with her, she’s often delayed because so many people want to talk to her, tell her their problems or let her know how much they like her.
ROYAL SHROVETIDE FOOTBALL MATCH IN ASHBOURNE, DERBYSHIRE, 2003
This is an annual football match in Ashbourne where they kick this ball all around the town and the prince was there. They lifted him up and look at his face. Charles is terrified but he’s a good sport. It’s a lovely picture and shows his character.
RAIN DANCE IN INDIA 2008
This is in the desert in Rajasthan in India. Charles is a great dancer, with fabulous rhythm. He was patron of a water aid charity and with aid from his charity they built a dam and got enough water for two years supply for the crops. This is a desert in Rajasthan and they’re celebrating with a rain dance.
He goes under the radar. He was hurt as Diana was getting all the attention but he never mentioned it. I remember in Sydney once, 12 of us were following Diana down the street and nobody was taking pictures of Charles. His press officer said ‘someone photograph the prince.’
I said, “I can‘t send a picture back to London without her in it”.
JUBILEE WITH LOUIS PRINCE 2022
Prince Louis was fidgeting, playing up and downright uncomfortable at the Platimum Jubilee concert. Then the king sat him on his lap and he calmed down. It was really nice. He really loves his grandchildren.
THE KING AND ARTHUR, RAF NORTHOLT, SEPTEMBER 2022
It was just me and him. It was the first day he came to London as the King, after the Queen‘s death. His flight from Balmoral landed at RAF Northolt. He met the squadron leader at the base and he came over to me. I said I was sorry for his loss. And he said, ‘it had to happen one day, it was inevitable’ and asked how I was. I felt his pain. What I admire about him is, I recently lost my wife, and I could not have done what he did when he spoke to the nation like that.
Behind the Crown: My Life photographer the Royal Family by Arthur Edwards is out now, published by HarperCollins.
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