|
Mike
Charity's first assignment as a royal photographer came in the icy
winter of 1963.
He
was living in a tiny Cheltenham flat with a primitive dark room
in the airing cupboard, and had to wash his prints in the bath.
 |
| The
Queen at the Tewkesbury Abbey Maundy Service in 1970 |
But
he got the pictures of Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon visiting
friends in Dowdeswell that two national agency photographers missed
because the atrocious weather had held them up.
Mike
sold them his prints, and that was the first of a lifetime of assignments
from country houses balls to official engagements in which he has
snapped just about every member of the royal family.
Now
his favourite royal photographs feature in a new book The Royal
Family In Gloucestershire. See a selection of his pictures in
our photo gallery - link on the link below.
Mike's
early royal assignments required a big investment for a struggling
photographer - a £20 evening suit from Burtons, which has
only been replaced once.
 |
| The
special smile: The Queen Mother arrives in Cheltenham in 1964 |
"I
was going to change it until I saw Mark Phillips' father's suit
on one occasion and that must date from about 1920. Mine must have
come in and out of fashion about three times!"
And
Mike's favourite royals to photograph?
"The
Queen Mother always reacted to the camera and she seemed to know
if a photographer was in the wrong position, she'd ease round and
you could get a picture.
"And
Princess Michael of Kent is very laidback and very relaxed in front
of the camera."
Mike
also photographed Princess Diana when, before her marriage, she
and Charles made their first walkabout together in Tetbury in 1981.
He recalls: "She was stunning, a very photogenic lady."
While
the royals are on first-name terms with some Fleet Street photographers
Mike has not been quite so imtimate, though he has attracted comment
from his royal 'subjects' on occasion.
 |
| Diana
on her first walkabout in Tetbury in 1981 |
"On
one occasion Prince Charles stopped as he was coming down the steps
to a royal theatre production and said: 'I hope they come out' and
on another occasion Prince Diana said as she walked past me 'I hope
you're going to make us laugh'."
Mike
is donating half the royalties from his book to the Gloucestershire
Prostrate Cancer (Bachytherapy Unit) Trust, launched in 2001 to
raise funds for a specialist prostrate cancer unit in Cheltenham.
He
says: "It's my way of repaying in some small way the people
of Cheltenham in particular and Gloucestershire in general for their
help, assistance and generosity over the past 40 years."
The
Royal Family In Gloucestershire is published by Tempus Publishing
of Stroud and available from county bookshops, price £14.
Do
you have photographs of the royal family in the county that you
would like to share on this website? Email gloucestershire@bbc.co.uk
Ìý
|
