As reported on the News UK website: He is 75 but don’t expect News UK long service awards headliner Arthur Edwards to be hanging up his camera any time soon.
The term ‘legend’ can often be over-used but it is entirely appropriate for The Sun royal snapper Arthur.
He celebrated 40 years service with the company at Friday’s awards held at The News Building in London Bridge. More than 200 staff marked service from 15-40 years, accumulating over 4,400 years between them.
Arthur revealed there are no retirement plans. He said: “I’m 75, but still got the energy to do it. I’m tea-total, go to the gym regularly and look after myself.
“When you love what you do, do it as long as you can. When retirement does come, it will be a sad day for me.”
He may be having a knee op in January, but is eager to cover the Queen’s 90th birthday in April 2016 before the keen football fan points his lens at the Euro finals in France next summer.
Arthur also praised his “very supportive” wife of 54 years, nurse Ann. They have three children, with sons John and Paul following dad into the news business.
He celebrates another massive landmark this year – 60 years in the photographic business. The East End boy left school at 15 to land a job drying prints in an advertising agency’s photographic dark room.
Arthur got his first camera on his 18th birthday. “I was fascinated by it and have never looked back.”
By the time Arthur joined The Sun on January 22, 1975, he was already a dab hand with the camera. Following a stint as assistant to fashion photographer John French, Arthur worked for capital newspapers the East London Advertiser and Stratford Express.
He recalls: “I could be doing eight jobs a day on the papers so it was quite different arriving at The Sun and being able to concentrate on one job.”
Arthur worked as a general news and sport snapper for a couple of years before a fateful conversation with the then Sun Editor Larry Lamb steered him on his epic royal path.
“He wanted me to track Prince Charles down and see the likely girls that he could end up marrying. I remember going to the Essex port of Harwich where he was the captain of a Navy ship.
“I latched on to his lifestyle. I got into the polo scene and along came Lady Diana Spencer. Polo, hunting, the job became exciting week in, week out. I worked almost seven days a week during 1977-81. I became obsessed.”
So became a long working relationship with his favourite royal, Prince Charles. Arthur said: “I really do like him as a person. We have the best-prepared monarch in waiting. His point in life is to do good things. Through him, I’ve met the Pope and President Obama.
“I would love to cover his coronation. They may have to pull me out of a bathchair to do it!”
Arthur, who lives at Hutton, near Brentwood in Essex, is now a veteran of 200 royal tours and visited more than 100 countries.
He said: “I don’t look upon it as a job, it’s a way of life and a joy. I love going to work.”
As for the Queen, Arthur remarked: “She’s a very regal woman. She’s brilliant at her job, still puts in a full shift and still looks amazing.”
It was a proud moment for Arthur when he received his MBE for services to newspapers from the Queen in 2003. He recalls: “It was the shock of all shocks. To be recognised like that is so special.”
The technology revolution could prove daunting to some ‘old school’ snappers, but it’s had the opposite effect on Arthur. He said: “I like to think I’ve led the field in some aspects of technology like the transmitting of pictures. You’ve always got to push the envelope. If you don’t, you’ll get left behind. All along, this company has been supportive of what I wanted to do in terms of buying equipment for instance. They have never ever stood in my way if it’s for the benefit of the paper.”
Arthur, who has taken on an ambassadorial role for The Sun as a royal expert in frequent broadcast appearances, said he still gets a “buzz” from seeing his work appear in the paper.
Was there a favourite all-time royal pic from Arthur? He replied: “Pictures are part of time, some become iconic. But I’m always interested in the next picture. I hope that will always be the case.”
News UK CEO Rebekah Brooks, who presented the long service voucher awards, said of Arthur: “You are everything this company stands for – the talent, dedication and hard work.”
The Times Editor John Witherow, celebrating 35 years with the company, said: “This is a fantastic place to work. Every day is exciting.”
