Daily Mail

‘Fake, rubbish’: 60s icon O’Neill scorns shamed royal snapper Testino

-

THE ROYALS’ favourite photograph­er, Mario Testino, spectacula­rly fell from grace in January when he was accused of sexual harassment by 13 male assistants and models who worked with him.

Now Swinging Sixties snapper Terry O’Neill, who shot the Rolling Stones and David Bowie in their prime, has broken his silence to launch a scathing attack on the man once tipped to be his successor.

‘I wasn’t surprised to hear about Mario. It was only a matter of time before it came out.

‘ I’m happy this has come out because I’m not for all that. It’s not the way to behave,’ O’Neill, 79, tells me at his private view, My Generation, at 3 Carnaby Street.

‘Terry Richardson, Bruce Weber — great photograph­ers but they ruined it,’ he says, alluding to two more photograph­ers accused of sexual misconduct. ‘It’s a shame, really, but it was up to them. That’s the way they are. I don’t like getting involved with the people I work with. That’s the big mistake.’

When Peruvian-born Testino, 63, was accused of assault, U.S. Vogue boss Dame Anna Wintour banned him from the company despite their decades-long relationsh­ip and even though he denied the claims.

He has shot some of the most famous Vogue covers of Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell. He also has a close working relationsh­ip with the Royal Family, having shot The Queen’s portrait in 2015 and the official engagement portrait of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in 2010.

But O’Neill, who has snapped Her Majesty as well as Princess Anne, the Duke of Edinburgh and Prince Andrew, has never liked his work.

‘It’s all retouched and fake — it’s not photograph­y. It’s not authentic. I didn’t like his one of The Queen. It was rubbish.

‘But his career is over now. Once you’re out of the set, you’re out. And that’s how it should be.’

Not everyone, however, is in his bad books. ‘What they’re saying about Patrick Demarcheli­er — what a load of rubbish,’ he adds of Princess Diana’s personal photograph­er, also accused of sexual misconduct.

‘I know him well. He’s happily married and he just wouldn’t get involved with all that bad stuff.’

Demarcheli­er, Weber and Richardson all deny the claims against them.

 ??  ?? Scathing: O’Neill and Testino
Scathing: O’Neill and Testino

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom