The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
‘It was something of a fluke’— Fife photographer secrets behind Kate on catwalk—
IT IS a moment that has become the stuff of royal legend.
The future Duchess of Cambridge strides down the catwalk aged 19 at a St Andrews University fashion show in a transparent lace dress in 2002.
Prince William was in the audience and apparently whispered to a friend: “Kate’s hot.” The rest, of course, is history….
The Fife photographer who captured the iconic image of undergraduate Kate striding down the catwalk has revealed publically for the first time that the image was “something of a fluke”.
Walter Neilson, 49, was doing a commission for hairdresser Sophie Butler when the image came about.
The former Glenrothes postman, who only took up photography in 1995, almost said no to covering the 2002 Don’t Walk fashion show because he had other commitments in Edinburgh.
He was persuaded to think again by Sophie’s husband Tim Butler, who had been impressed with his work when covering a photoshoot at his restaurant in St Monans.
Little could Walter have imagined that, within days, one of the pictures he took that night would be published by newspapers and magazines across the world.
To date, the image has been published 50,000 times — and was published again this week when The Courier covered the 2015 Don’t Walk show.
Walter told The Courier: “When I started off I had a small ambition to get a photo in every newspaper in the country. I didn’t expect it all to happen on the same day! “I was there to photograph hair for Sophie Butler. A couple of tabloids turned up. No one expected Prince William to be there but he was.
“I asked if we would be allowed to photograph him and was told it was fine because he was in a public
place. “I didn’t really get excited about the whole thing — I was there to photograph hair “All the other photographers headed off to file their pictures. That left me. I kept tak ing pictures.
“One of the models who took to the catwalk was Kate Middleton. No one had heard of her then of course.
“It was only later when word got out that she and William were an item that one of the tabloid newspapers learned I had a picture, published it and the interest exploded from there.”
“It’s definitely a career-defining picture. A lot of editors got to know me because of it but it was very much about being in the right place at the right time,” he added.