Snapper reveals how he took THAT photograph of Andrew slumped in again of automotive after arrest
The picture of a shell-shocked Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor slumped in the back of a car while being driven away from a police station was captured “more by luck than judgement”
The photo sparked a global media frenzy(Image: REUTERS)
The photographer who snapped the picture of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor as he was driven away from a police station has revealed he drove for six hours to get the world famous image.
And Phil Noble, an experienced photographer at global news agency Reuters, said it “was more luck than judgement” that he managed to capture the first glimpse of the ex-Duke after he was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office on his 66th birthday.
The Manchester-based photographer said he drove to Norfolk when news of the bombshell arrest broke before heading to Aylsham police station after being tipped off that’s where Andrew was.
As darkness fell after six hours of waiting, Phil started to pack up and head towards a hotel where his team were staying overnight as nothing was happening. But minutes later, he got the call that Andrew’s car was leaving the station.
Noble raced back to Aylsham in time to catch two cars departing. He then snapped six photos: two showed the police, two were blank and one was out of focus.
But the remaining photo captured the former prince reclining in the back of the car. It has since gone viral, sparking thousands of memes and almost as many front pages around the world.
Phil said: “You can plan and use your experience and know roughly what you need to do, but still everything needs to align. When you’re doing car shots it’s more luck than judgment.”
Amazingly, Phil said hadn’t looked closely at the former prince’s expression, which showed him looking weary after 11 hours in custody. He was just relieved it was him, he said.
Phil added: “It was a proper old school news day, a guy being arrested, who can we call, tracking him down.”
The shame ex-Royal, the second son of the late Queen Elizabeth and once dubbed the “Playboy Prince”, has always denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein and has previously said he regrets their friendship.
The photo, which has been used extensively by media worldwide, marked a staggering fall from grace for the late Queen Elizabeth’s favourite son and was said by one former aide of his mother to likely leave the Royal Family feeling “bruised” and “shattered”.
Cops swooped at 8am on his home at the Sandringham estate after he was accused of sharing sensitive information with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein while serving as the UK’s trade envoy.
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