Here’s Why Royal Photographer Called Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Wedding The ‘Worst Event Ever’

The 19th of May marked Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s sixth wedding anniversary, but a royal photographer just shared the unvarnished truth about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s wedding day. Speaking on The Sun’s Royal Exclusive Show, Arthur Edwards, the royal photographer, said he had attended ‘the worst’ royal event of his life—the wedding.

In a special conversation with Matt Wilkinson, the Royal Editor of The Sun, Edwards said, “I was there I hated the day, it was miserable day. I can tell you now it was the worst royal engagement I ever did, the worst royal wedding I ever did because Harry was determined to keep the newspapers away from it as much as possible.” He took notice of Harry’s dogged determination to shield the journalists from his special day to the best of his ability. The necessity for long lenses to take pictures was brought up by Edwards, who described the day as a ‘disaster’ since Harry and Meghan, in their carriage, turned their backs on him, making it impossible for him to obtain a decent image.

After that, Edwards made a passing reference to the fact that he and the British press were treated rudely on the day of the royal wedding. The photographer added, “I felt it was deliberate, with the British press, in many ways they were badly treated. Harry was angry at us about things said about Meghan. Some of the things were pretty harsh. Some were pretty unfair. He was angry and I felt we were punished for that.” Edwards concluded, “I’ve done some really lovely royal weddings, I did both of Charles’, William’s, Andrew’s, Sophie and Edward’s. But on this one, I couldn’t get out of Windsor quick enough.”

Tabloid coverage of Markle, an actress whose parents are of mixed race, has varied from intrusive to insulting. Markle’s mother is Black and her father is white. At some point in 2016, in a long statement, the communications secretary of the royal family said that Markle ‘has been subject to a wave of abuse and harassment’ in comments sections of online platforms, news outlets, and even in person. This was just after the Prince confirmed his relationship with the American Actress. The statement mentioned , “Some of this has been very public — the smear on the front of national newspaper; the racial undertones of comment pieces; and the outright sexism and racism of social media trolls and web article comments.”

One of the story in the Daily Mail characterized Markle, as someone who is “(almost) straight outta Compton.” Another article mentioned Markle’s “rich and exotic DNA” and described her mother as ‘a dreadlocked African-American lady from the wrong side of the tracks.’ Even Markle’s family has had to deal with reporters face-to-face. The statement referred to ‘her mother having to struggle past photographers in order to get to her front door’ and with ‘the attempts of reporters and photographers to gain illegal entry to [Markle’s] home.’ It further added, “It is not right that a few months into a relationship with him that Ms. Markle should be subjected to such a storm.”