Feb 20, 2026
3 min read
Most of the time, the major newspapers of the country include a variety of pictures on their front pages.But on Friday, all the pictures on Britain's front pages were the same.
Most days there's a wide variety of photos that grace the front pages of the country's top newspapers, but on Friday, every photo that hit Britain's front page was the same.
A snap of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, slouched in the back of a car, looking shell-shocked on his 66th birthday as he left the police station.
On Thursday, Mountbatten-Windsor became the first member of the British royal family to be arrested in modern history, spending more than 10 hours in police custody at a police station in the small town of Aylsham, England, about an hour from his new home on the royal Sandringham estate.
“The photography gods were on my side,” said Reuters senior photographer Phil Noble.
Noble, originally from the north of England, drove five hours south to Norfolk on Thursday morning - racing to get there when news of the arrest broke.
His two-man team used guesswork and well-known sources to determine what they thought would be the right police station.There are around 20 police stations in the Thames Valley where the former prince could have been taken, so we had to wait and see.
"This was probably the fourth or fifth police station that Reuters visited that night," Noble said."When I arrived, it didn't seem like anything was normal. There were no cars. There was no work."
"Actually, before he arrived, I left to go back to the hotel... and my co-worker Marissa texted me and said, 'Look, two cars have arrived. Please come back,'" Nobel said in a video explaining how the shooting happened.
Then the racing really started.The Reuters photographer said he "turned his car around, went back, and within minutes of arriving, the shutters of the police station garage opened and two cars drove off. And one of them, he (Mountbatten-Windsor) was inside."
Stick-out photography has many variables, Noble explains.Part of the job is preparation, skill and experience.It also requires a willingness to stand on the side of a British country road in the dark for hours at a time, not knowing if it will lead to anything worth mentioning.
“I took some test shots of other cars leaving the police station about half an hour before I took the photo, so ... I had a rough idea of the camera settings,” explained Noble, who has worked at Reuters for more than 20 years.Previously he worked in photography for the UK Press Association and the Manchester Evening News.
"But still, you know, there's more luck than fate when the car leaves. Where's he sitting, what's his side of the car? Is he in the front? Is he in the back? Will the Flash do it again in time?"
According to Reuters, he received a total of six shots.Two were empty, one was out of focus, and two showed police officers.But he got an unusual moment.
"For every car shot you do, the hit rate is really low," he added."So last night, it was one of those moments where you look behind the camera, you're tired, it's been a long day ... you can believe you've got this."
Mountbatten-Windsor was released "under investigation" late Thursday night.Police did not say why the former prince was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, but he had previously spent a decade as Britain's trade envoy in 2001.She resigned in 2011 over her association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The former lover has not publicly responded to the latest allegations, which emerged after the US Department of Justice released millions of documents related to Epstein.Mountbatten-Windsor has repeatedly denied all allegations, saying she did not witness or suspect Epstein of the alleged behavior.
When asked about the photo, Noble said it's not a work of art, but it's definitely one of his most newsworthy photos of all time.
"Best photo? Maybe not. You know, he's the guy who got shot through the windshield last night," Noble chuckled."Is this the best photo I've ever taken? No. Is it one of the most important? One hundred percent."
