Royal fans keen to mark the 13th wedding anniversary of the Prince and Princess of Wales were delighted to discover a never-before-seen portrait of William and Kate on their special day this afternoon.
Posted on Instagram with the caption “13 years ago today!”, the black and white photo was taken not by the couple’s official wedding photographer, Hugo Burnand, but by their private photographer, Millie Pilkington , based in Dorset.
Asked about her greatest luck, Millie, who received her first camera from her mother at the age of 8, told The Gold Edition:
“I’m not sure you could ask for a bigger break than being asked to capture the private photographs of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding in April 2011.”
Prince William, 41, and Kate Middleton, 42, married at Westminster Abbey in 2011, in front of an estimated 37 million people in the UK. Although official photographs were released after the big day, Millie was chosen to take more intimate photos for their private wedding. album.
Millie Pilkington’s never-before-seen portrait of William and Kate on their wedding day
Millie took this photo of King Charles and Queen Camilla, which was posted on Friday, May 24 alongside an encouraging update on Charles’ health.
And Millie, described as “one of the UK’s most respected and accomplished portrait photographers” on her website, turns out to be the woman behind a whole series of royal images.
Most recently, the children and family photographer captured a smiling photo of King Charles and Queen Camilla.
Broadcast on Friday May 24, the image accompanied Charles’ encouraging health update announcing that the king would return to some of his public duties after undergoing treatment for cancer.
Millie speaks openly about the pleasure she has working with the royal family. Speaking to The Gold Edition in April 2023, she explained that, rather than finding the royals intimidating, she sees them as “more humble, kind, caring and approachable” than many people who haven’t. no title.
Millie also took photos of William and Kate’s three children, Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5.
This photo of Prince William with his three children was taken last year on Father’s Day.
As well as taking portraits of their youngest child, Prince Louis, which were released on various birthdays, Millie was on hand to capture Prince William with his three children before Father’s Day last year.
According to her website, Millie, who lives near Sherborne in Dorset, “is known for doing whatever it takes to get vaccinated”.
The combination of his professional spirit and fun-loving personality allowed him to balance atop a ladder and wade through a pond to get the right shot.
When she’s not photographing the royal family, Millie is busy taking family photos and pursuing editorial projects for publications such as Country Life and Hello!
Speaking to The Gold Edition, Millie explained that her mother gave her a camera for her eighth birthday.
“I quickly became obsessed with taking photos of almost anything that moved, even though it was mainly my dog and my horse,” she said.
But Millie believes her “love of portraiture” came from replacing her camera with a Minolta SLR when she was 15. At that time, she particularly enjoyed taking photos of her family and friends.
Millie credits Jane Brown, the late English photographer who spent six decades at The Observer, as one of her most important influences.
Royal private photographer Millie Pilkington said William and Kate’s wedding was the biggest break you could get
She explained: “Whether it’s candid shots, like her portrait of three Beetles fans or Cilla Black sipping tea, or even a close-up portrait of Mick Jagger laughing, her striking portraits all contain an honesty that I aspire to achieve in my portraits. .’
Another key part of Millie’s oeuvre is her work with Country Life magazine, her largest editorial client.
For the November 2018 issue, she photographed Dame Judi Dench for the magazine and has since shared that Country Life was a publication she had “always wanted to work for.”
Although she has honed her craft since early childhood, becoming a full-time photographer after her marriage in 2000, Millie is happy to admit that sometimes a brilliant portrait simply comes down to “a stroke of luck: being in the right place at the right moment “. at the right time and being quick.
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