Prince Harry Follows in Kate Middleton's Footsteps With New Hobby
Prince Harry has taken up a hobby that could see him give sister-in-law Kate Middleton a run for her artistic money. This is according to the photographer behind the royal's celebrated engagement and wedding portraits. Alexi Lubomirski is a prince himself through his Polish ancestry and fashion photographer to the stars.
He is best known for capturing Harry and Meghan Markle's intimate engagement photographs in the grounds of Frogmore House in Windsor, Berkshire, in England in 2017. Lubomirski forged a working relationship with the couple afterwards.
Prince Harry taking a photograph during a visit to Lesotho, Africa, December 8, 2014. Harry is "really interested" in the photographic process, according to the royal's wedding photographer. Chris Jackson - WPA Pool /Getty Images
The photographer told the U.K. newspaper Daily Telegraph on Wednesday that Harry and Meghan were "intoxicating." He recalled their surprising intimacy in front of the camera during the engagement shoot.
"Every time they looked at each other, I almost felt awkward. I kept thinking, 'This is so intimate. Should I even be here for this?'" Lubomirski said. "Being around them was very intoxicating.''
Lubomirski went on to photograph the couple for their formal wedding portraits at Windsor Castle in 2018. During the session, he had to coax 10 children, as well as five princes, four princesses and a queen, into all cooperating to get the perfect shot. On promising Queen Elizabeth II that he would be as quick as possible, the photographer said her response was: "I'm not the one you need to worry about."
Lubomirski has photographed Harry and Meghan since their move full-time to the U.S. in 2020. He revealed the prince has taken up a hobby that has been a firm favorite of members of the royal family for over a century, most notably his sister-in-law Kate. "Harry is really interested in photography," Lubomirski said. "He takes a lot of great black-and-white pictures.
I talked to him about different apps to use to create the perfect picture. I was definitely giving him ideas." Several members of the royal family have taken up photography over the years, since Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, became the first member of the British monarchy to sit for a photographic portrait in 1842.
Queen Alexandra, Harry's great-great-great-grandmother, took many portraits including shots of Queen Victoria and other members of her family. These were exhibited publicly and even published in a special book of her work.
Queen Elizabeth II photographed with a group of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren by Kate Middleton at Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, in the summer of 2022. The image was released in April to mark what would have been the monarch's 97th birthday. THE PRINCESS OF WALES
More recently, Queen Elizabeth II's son Prince Andrew was known as the family photographer, publishing a book of his own portraits in 1985.
The mantle has been taken up by Kate, who releases her own portraits of her children on their birthdays and other milestone events. This April, the princess released an image of the late Queen Elizabeth with a group of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren to mark what would have been her 97th birthday. The public first caught a glimpse of Harry's interest in photography in 2019.
The royal posted eight photographs he had taken of the natural world to mark Earth Day to his Instagram. These included a black-and-white portrait of a rhinoceros, as well as a pod of orca whales.
A number of photographs and video clips shot by Harry and Meghan were included in their six-part Netflix docuseries, which was released in December 2022. Newsweek approached representatives of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle via email for comment.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page. Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer?
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