King Charles’ photographer has revealed the details of his hour-long photo shoot as he tried to capture the “authentic” side of the monarch after his Coronation. Speaking to the Times, Hugo Burnand ran through the process of establishing parity between the King and his late mother, as well as the striking differences, by having Charles pose at a slight angle to “humanise him” while also refraining from adding extra light, a tactic employed for the late Queen Elizabeth during her coronation photo shoot.

Mr Burnand spoke of taking inspiration from Cecil Beaton, the photographer responsible for the 1953 coronation pictures, as well as Victorian court artist Franz Xaver Winterhalter, who drew Victoria and Albert.

Four pictures were released by Buckingham Palace from the hour-long photo shoot following the Coronation of King Charles III.

They included one of the King in all his regalia in the throne room, one of Queen Camilla in the green drawing room, one of the pair of them together and one of all the working members of the Royal Family gathered together.

In the photo of the King, Mr Burnand said he had the monarch lean slightly forward so the red of the throne could be seen behind him.

The positioning was done to pay homage to Winterhalter’s 1846 portrait of Victoria and Albert and their family.

He said it helped to make the viewer feel like they were there by humanising the monarch in spite of the opulent trinkets and gowns concurrently donned by the King.

The fact that the King’s head is at a slight angle “shows you the man… that you are still talking to an individual”, he said.

He added that he deliberately did not include additional light, as was done with Queen Elizabeth’s coronation pictures in 1953, to ensure King Charles “popped out”.

“We could have thrown a lot more light into the picture, but I wanted him to pop out. It’s him. He is of his age. With that comes wisdom and experience and all those things,” he said.

“It’s good to have the real man there. There is an honesty there. It is an authentic picture of our King. We could have enhanced it in so many different ways. But that is our King.”

While the coronation photos of the current and former monarch are identical – both are seated on thrones, holding the orb and sceptre – Charles is facing the opposite way to his mother.

Mr Burnand said this was in reference to what happens on coins, where for every change of reign, the monarch’s image is facing the opposite way to their predecessor.

He said he and the Royal Family were “on the same page” because they had worked together so many times, emboldening him to find the exact picture they are after.

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“I love working with them, because we work well together. As well as the line, the colour, the lighting, the composition, to a degree you are photographing emotion,” he said.

“And that is what I am bringing to the picture above and beyond everything else. And I suppose that comes because of my 20 years’ experience.”

He described the mood on the day as “joyous” and “celebratory” as the family prepared and then posed for a variety of photos over the hour.

He added that he was lost for words at the end of the shoot and a little teary, knowing that he had “done everything possible” to make the royals happy.

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