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candid shot
Here's how a Reuters photographer snapped the picture of former prince Andrew leaving custody
The photo featured on the front page of newspapers across the globe, but the photographer has said the end product was “more luck than judgment”.
Reuters photographer Phil Noble explains how he captured the viral photo of former Prince Andrew slumped in the back seat of his Range Rover after he was released from police custody over allegations he sent confidential documents to Jeffrey Epstein https://t.co/msKpg99xpL pic.twitter.com/0YEESK5wrS
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 20, 2026
A SINGLE IMAGE of former prince Andrew slumped in the back of a Range Rover after being released from police custody has become the defining picture of the story, and Reuters has detailed how it came together.
The photograph, taken by Reuters photographer Phil Noble, shows Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor leaving Aylsham police station in Norfolk after a day of questioning over allegations he sent confidential government documents to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Andrew has denied wrongdoing.
When news of the arrest broke early yesterday, Noble began a six-hour drive from Manchester to Norfolk.
Journalists knew the former royal had been arrested in the county, home to the Sandringham estate, but with officers from Thames Valley Police involved, there were multiple potential stations where he could have been held.
Following a tip, Noble headed to Aylsham. For hours, nothing happened.
Darkness fell and he and Reuters video journalist Marissa Davison decided to call it a night and book a nearby hotel. Minutes after leaving, Noble got a call: Andrew’s cars had arrived.
He raced back just in time to see two vehicles leaving at speed. The front car carried police officers, so Noble focused on the one behind.
He shot six frames. Two showed police. Two were blank. One was out of focus. One worked.
“You can plan and use your experience and know roughly what you need to do, but still everything needs to align,” Noble told Reuters.
“When you’re doing car shots it’s more luck than judgment.”
He said he hadn’t even registered Andrew’s expression at the time, he was simply relieved he had captured the moment.
“It was a proper old school news day, a guy being arrested, who can we call, tracking him down,” Noble said.
The image was used extensively by media organisations worldwide and quickly became the visual shorthand for the story.
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