Royal Wedding Photographer Explains How He Got All 10 Kids to Smile in the Official Portrait
It was like any other family photo situation involving kids, but photographer Alexi Lubomirski certainly came fully prepared. The high fashion photographer snapped what seemingly appeared to be the perfect, vibrant photo of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and their junior bridal party for their official wedding portraits at Windsor Castle.
Lubomirski opened up to to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Wednesday, May 23, about photographing the newlyweds and their six junior bridesmaids and four page boys for a series of shots. When the images were released by Kensington Palace on Monday, fans were shocked to see smiles and adorable expressions on all 10 faces, including wide grins from both Prince George and Princess Charlotte.
The key, Lubomirski says, was candy. The photographer used Smarties—the UK’s version of M&Ms—to get the children to focus. Plus, he had to face a time crunch as he was given only 25 minutes to execute six family photo set-ups.
“They were being bribed with one Smartie here, one Smartie there,” Lubomirski recalled. “So as soon as the kids came onto the set, I immediately just shouted out ‘Who likes Smarties?!’ and then everybody, hands up, smiles. Even some adults put their hands up.”
The images were taken inside the Green Drawing Room of Windsor Castle. The palace released three pictures including one featuring the couple’s immediate family members like mother of the bride Doria Ragland, the Queen, Prince Philip, Prince Charles, Camilla Parker Bowles, Kate Middleton and Prince William.
(Credit: Alexi Lubomirski / Handout)
Overall, the photographer says the entire family made his job seamless. “The atmosphere in the room was obviously very joyful, there were a lot of smiles,” he recalled. “Some parents were trying to wrangle their children, other uncles and aunts were talking to their nephews and nieces. It was a family, that was essentially what it is.”
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