The only official photographer who documented the Duke of Edinburgh’s memorial service last week has revealed how the event unfolded when Prince Andrew was given a surprisingly prominent role.
The service of thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey on Tuesday 29 March saw the Duke of York make his first public appearance since he reached a settlement on his sexual assault case in the US.
Andrew settled the case brought against him by Virginia Giuffre, who accused him of sexual abuse when she was 17. He previously denied ever meeting her and has vehemently denied the allegations.
Despite having stepped back from public duties, Andrew arrived at the service together with the Queen and escorted her to her seat at the front of the congregation of 1,800 people, including the Prince and Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Richard Pohle, staff photographer at The Times, was chosen as the rota photographer who would provide national and international media with images of the service from inside Westminster Abbey.
Writing in The Times, he revealed that the event began in “a high state of panic” and his initial instructions were not to photograph the Queen until she was seated.
However, “everything changed” when it was discovered that Andrew would accompany Her Majesty down the aisle.
He recalled telling Palace officials that he would “absolutely need to photograph” the moment the Queen arrived with the Duke, as it was “now the major news event”.
The 95-year-old monarch’s decision to allow Andrew to accompany her was highly criticised by the media and members of the public following the event, with royal commentator Omid Scobie commenting that it “completely overshadowed a beautiful service”.
The memorial was broadcast live on BBC One on the day, and Pohle argued that he would be “in a hell of a lot of trouble if there was blanket TV coverage of the Queen openly showing support for Prince Andrew but no photographs”.
The photographer was eventually given permission to capture the moment, but he revealed how he nearly lost the opportunity.
“I had forgotten that when the Queen enters a room everyone stands up,” he wrote, describing how he was blocked by “rows of dignitaries and ladies’ hats”.
Thinking quickly, he moved away from his official position to a better spot. However, Pohle described this as “the most cardinal of sins” as a royal rota photographer.
“I brushed past the press officer and could feel a hand reach out to try and stop me but I rushed past and crouched in the centre of the aisle,” he said.
It was from this spot that Pohle was able to clearly photograph the Queen walking arm in arm with Andrew, behind the row of clergy.
He later returned to his official spot to the “frowning press officer” and whispered his apologies for moving away.
The image of Andrew walking his mother through the abbey was splashed on newspapers the following day, with headlines like “The pain… and the stain” fronting The Mirror and “Royal fallout over the Queen’s ultimate act of love” on the front of the Daily Express.
The Duke’s prominent role at the memorial has raised questions over whether he would attend the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee weekend in June.
The banished royal, who was stripped of his honorary military titles and HRH style in January, may make an appearance at the Jubilee service of thanksgiving in St Paul’s Cathedral on 3 June if it is considered a family occasion.
However, Buckingham Palace has said its position on the matter “hasn’t changed since our statement in January”, when it issued a statement confirming that Andrew “will continue not to undertake any public duties”.
