The intimate official photo of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on their wedding day captured the couple in a moment of "exhaustion".
A picture of Meghan entwined the legs of her new husband Prince Harry on the Windsor Castle terrace was released by Kensington Palace earlier this week, and photographer Alexi Lubomirski – who had just "three and a half minutes" to shoot the couple alone – is thrilled with the "magical" picture, especially as it was so natural.
He said: "We went out there and had about three and a half minutes to take some quick shots because everything was running like clockwork.
"It was just one of those magical moments when you’re a photographer and everything falls into place. I said ‘Just before you go in, sit on those stairs’.
"And she just slumped between his legs and there was this moment where they were just laughing because they were exhausted and thinking finally it’s all over. It was one of these beautiful moments."
Kensington Palace issues three images altogether, including one of the couple with their bridesmaids and page boys, and another of them with Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, senior members of the royal family, including Harry’s father Prince Charles and stepmother Duchess Camilla, his grandparents Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, his brother Prince William and sister-in-law Duchess Catherine, and the young bridal party.
And the 42-year-old photographer was determined not to make the pictures too "regimented and linear".
He told the BBC: "I didn’t want it to feel like a sports team photo or an army photo, regimented and linear.
"So we talked about how we could break it and get some rhythm and asymmetry into it and it all came down to very little tiny things – nothing crazy.
"In terms of how were placing people – we wanted some people sitting, some people standing, kids on parents laps and that was a huge thing to get that realness out of it."
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle ‘exhausted’ in official photo
