Royal Photographer Shares Trick for Taking Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis' Picture
Arthur Edwards, who has photographing the royal family for 45 years, tells PEOPLE which one of Prince William's kids remind him of the Prince of Wales as a boy
Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis light up every picture they're in — but the perfect shot can be a waiting game.
Photographer Arthur Edwards has covered the British royals for The Sun for 45 years, following the family on 200 tours in over 120 countries and capturing seven weddings, five funerals and seven births along the way. In conversation with PEOPLE about his new book Behind the Crown: My Life Photographing the Royal Family, Edwards, 82, shared a trick for photographing Prince William and Kate Middleton's three kids.
"The trick is be patient," Edwards says of taking pictures of George, 9, Charlotte, 7, and Louis, 4. "You've got to be patient because they do something and you just got to make sure you capture it. With the Queen, it was the same. You knew that you'd get a smile eventually, but you had to be patient."
In one serendipitous example, the celebrated photographer cited Prince George's adorable double wave during the royal tour of Canada in 2016.
Related:Kate Middleton and Prince Louis Show Their Sweet Mother-Son Bond in Newly Released Photo
"George was quite young, and he was coming to get on the plane to go back and he starts coming and waves. It was lovely pictures, but he's obviously been told by his mother that's what he has to do," Edwards tells PEOPLE of the young royal, then 3.
As the Prince and Princess of Wales raise their kids mostly outside of the royal spotlight, they traditionally release a portrait for each child's birthday — taken by Kate! According to Edwards, who was awarded a Member of the British Empire for his services to newspapers in 2003, Princess Kate has real talent behind the camera.
"Kate's a really excellent photographer. She's taken some great pictures of her children, and she shares them with us, which is nice," Edwards says. (Princess Kate previously described herself as an "enthusiastic amateur photographer" and serves as patron of the Royal Photographic Society, even taking Queen Camilla's picture for the cover of Country Life magazine last summer.)
A click away from the royal family for generations, Edwards also revealed which of Prince William's children reminds him of the Prince of Wales as a boy.
Related:Royal Photographer Arthur Edwards Reveals What You Don't Know About King Charles and Queen Camilla
"George is like William because William was very shy. Louis is like Harry…I don't know if you saw him at the Jubilee, but he was the star of the show," he jokes.
"And Charlotte, well, she's herself. She was down in the Isle of Wight at the sailing with her parents. And as she went up into the clubhouse, she turned to the photographers and poked her tongue out at everybody!" he laughs, recalling the 2019 charity sailing race that Kate and Prince William participated in.
"She's a little madam," the photographer adds. "But she's getting to be looking very much a princess now, and Kate dresses her beautifully."
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The British monarchy is over a thousand years old, and Edwards speculates that the royal family's mystique is what continues to intrigue and inspire the public today.
"They do everything well. They do ceremony better than anybody else. They are caring, they say the right things, they do the right things. They're just terrific people…they're held in great high respect. It's quite amazing when they come into a room," Edwards says. "They've got that mystery, but they're just very nice people."
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