If your average picture is worth a thousand words, it’s safe to say this one can take credit for that about a thousand times over.
International TV networks, newspapers, and websites have already filled almost twelve hours of coverage based on a 45-word statement from Kensington Palace confirming the Duchess of Cambridge had gone into labor, following the scoop from photographer Jesal Parshotam who captured Kate and Prince William entering the private Lindo Wing at St Mary’s hospital at around 5:30 on Monday morning, London time.
Related: Crowd grows outside hospital as Kate goes into labour
“Kate Middleton has gone into hospital…” the royal photographer tweeted, shortly before the Palace confirmed so two hours later.
“Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge has been admitted this morning to St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, London, in the early stages of labour.
Parshotam and fellow photographer Darren Sacks captured the moment when the royal couple arrived at the hospital and entered the site of the royal birth, but decided not to photograph the Duchess saying it was “most the right right thing to do”.
The photographer has not given any interviews regarding his scoop — we imagine he’s been busy sorting out copyright for the world’s most wanted picture, and concentrating on capturing the next one — but he has voiced his excitement on Twitter.
“It’s not every day [a fellow photographer] and I get to break and international news story,” he said.
“Best of luck to Kate and Will. Hope everything goes well.”
Parshotam seemed to be overwhelmed by his sudden shot to fame, abandoning hundres of other photographers at the Lindo Wing to take to the gym in the later hours of the morning, citing #toomuchtwitteraction, according to his tweets.
Veteran royal photographer Ian Pelham-Turner’s career took a turn for the best when he first photographed Prince William as a baby in 1982, and says exclusive shots of the family at this important time in royal history could be the ultimate career prize for photographers.
“My entire life as a photographer, I knew, would depend on these photographs,” he tells CBC of the moment he took the shots that made him as a royal snapper.
Royal baby on the way: Kate is in labour
Photographers stay stationed on their ladders in the still-growing press pen outside the Lindo Wing, first hoping to capture a royal aide emerging from the front doors with a medical notice that will be transported to Buckingham Palace, detailing the baby’s sex, weight, and time of birth.
The next big shots will be the first family portraits of the family, which could also be captured on those front steps where Prince William was first photographed with parents Charles and Diana as a newborn.
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for all your royal baby news from Liz Burke in London.
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