HAPPY anniversary, Wills & Kate! The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge celebrate 10 years of marriage today.
In this special souvenir, The Celeb Report’s royal photographer Arthur Edwards chooses his favourite pictures from the decade – and tells a few of the stories behind them.
HEIR RAISING
WHEN Prince William was a little boy, I remember him saying to one of his policemen: “I hate ’tographers!”
I was one of the people who turned up and took pictures at the milestones in the lives of him and Prince Harry.
William, who was very shy back then, didn’t want that for his children so Catherine, has become a superb photographer to record all those magical moments.
The photo she took of William and the kids on a swing was absolutely brilliant and I challenge any professional to do better.
It’s a mother photographing everything she loves in the world – her husband and their three children. Those kids are becoming little characters who are a delight for everyone.
Charlotte is Daddy’s girl and on the swing you can see her hugging William.
George has a hell of a responsibility ahead as King but at the moment his parents just want him to enjoy his childhood.
And little Louis is already such a star. The picture of him with a rainbow on his hands in support of the NHS was a stroke of genius by his mum.
GOOD SPORTS
BEFORE the start of a dragon-boat race on Prince Edward Island, Canada, in 2012, I said to Catherine: “William says he is going to beat you.” To which she replied: “In his dreams.”
Catherine is fiercely competitive and good at all sports. In Ireland in March last year they tried traditional Gaelic games including hurling.
To pick up the stick and hit the ball first time is an art. But to everyone’s amazement, they both hit the ball out of the ground. I had the chance to come back and photograph Harry and Meghan at London’s Guildhall but I chose to stay with Kate and William.
I never regretted that because it was great to see them embrace the culture of Ireland and carry on the goodwill generated by the Queen in 2011 on her first state visit to the republic.
Catherine is a superb role model, encouraging young women into sport.
In lockdown she and William became Zoom stars via a series of events, joined the NHS clap with the kids then later ventured out to thank volunteers personally. Good sports indeed!
OUT ON THE GOWN
KATHERINE has been a picture of elegance for the past ten years.
Her considered dress sense is always appropriate, whether she’s at a family dinner or a glittering state banquet with William.
As these ten looks from ten years show, the delectable Duchess hits the fashion high notes every time.
OUR WORLD
WILLIAM and Kate are first-class ambassadors for Queen and country when they travel abroad. Nothing is too much for them.
They have to do many seemingly dull engagements, but perform them with great enthusiasm. In Pakistan in 2019, they both looked wonderful in national dress. But what everyone who was there remembers is their plane being hit by a severe thunderstorm.
Totally calm amid the terrible turbulence as we were tossed all over the sky, Prince William came to the back of the plane and asked the media on board: “Does anyone need a change of underwear?”
On the Pacific island of Tuvalu in 2012, he and Catherine wore grass skirts and floral head-dresses to dance to the drums and sing along with locals. It was magical.
But afterwards William pleaded with me not to use the pictures because his RAF Valley rescue crew back home in Anglesey would take the mickey. Like all royals, they get to see wonderful places – but just for a short while.
Sadly, at Uluru in the Australian Outback in 2014, they were not allowed to walk up the famous rock formation like Diana did on the 1983 tour when William was a baby.
REARLY BELOVED
THE nation enjoyed a bonus Bank Holiday when Prince William married his bride on Friday, April 29, 2011 – St Catherine’s Day. I watched the wedding on TV in a tea room at Buckingham Palace, waiting for the couple to return for their balcony kiss.
Along with nearly a million people thronging the streets, we were not disappointed as the newlyweds gave us not one kiss but two. As I was packing up to leave, a press officer whispered in my ear: “Don’t go yet.”
Prince Charles had given best man Harry permission to borrow his treasured vintage Aston Martin and cover it with balloons and a Just Married sign.
As William drove it out of the Palace gates later that day, the 1970 DB6 kept stopping and starting. Charles later told me William was so nervous he had forgotten to take off the handbrake.
It was a wonderful wedding and, for me, the potted trees brought in to line the aisle in Westminster Abbey were unforgettable.
But for many, one of the things they will remember most about that day is Kate’s sister Pippa’s shapely bottom, which almost stole the show.
REMEMBERING
SOME royal jobs call for solemnity. William and Catherine always strike the right note.
In 2012, they paid their respects at the beautifully tended Kranji Cemetery in Singapore, where 4,525 Commonwealth casualties from both world wars lie buried or commemorated.
Just under ten years later, the couple were in St George’s Chapel, Windsor, for the farewell to another Far East veteran, the Duke of Edinburgh.
Seeing the Queen sitting all alone at Philip’s funeral broke my heart and reminded us all that the future of the monarchy rests on this young couple.
One day, Catherine will be our Queen.
I cannot think of a better person to take on that role and support her husband as King, as she already does every day of her life. William, you are a lucky man.
