news
February 20, 2026
The story behind the viral image of the former Prince Andrew leaving prison: 'The gods of photography were with me'
For Phil Noble, a senior Reuters photographer, capturing the arrest of former Prince Andrew involved traveling in record time and operating amidst constant uncertainty. Noble explained that he was in the north of England, as far as possible from Norfolk, about 'four and a half to five hours by car without traffic'. The organization [...]
TL;DR
- Photographer Phil Noble was in Northern England, hours away, when news of Prince Andrew's arrest broke.
- The Reuters team scrambled to coordinate, with Noble driving towards an uncertain location while trying to gather information.
- After visiting multiple police stations, Noble was alerted by a colleague to returning vehicles, leading him back to the police station.
- He managed to photograph Prince Andrew emerging from a police car just moments after arriving, using prepared camera settings.
- Noble emphasized the difficulty and low probability of such shots, noting that the image's importance outweighs its artistic quality.
- He highlighted the rarity of news photographers capturing such significant moments in the current era of ubiquitous cameras.