Photographer Anwar Husssein developed a unique relationship with the People’s Princess — and now he’s sharing the intimate stories behind his famous photos

Photo: courtesy Anwar Hussein

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Standing Apart

courtesy Anwar Hussein

Photographer Anwar Hussein snapped this photo of Diana in Australia in 1983 just moments after Charles had walked away. “She had a canny way of showing her mood whether she was happy or unhappy,” says the photographer.

A new photo exhibit, Princess Diana: Accredited Access, opens up Anwar’s remarkable archives to the public for the first time.

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Camera-Ready

Princess Diana. courtesy Anwar Hussein

“The story of Diana (in 1989) unfolded in front of us,” says Anwar. “You could see her go from Shy Di, looking down, to becoming stronger—which she had to do. She wanted to prove she was brave enough to do what she wanted.”

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Diana’s Surprise Chat

Princess Diana with Anwar Hussein. courtesy Anwar Hussein

The princess approached Anwar (pictured with Diana in 1985) during a flight in the mid-’90s. “All the lights were dimmed on the flight, and she came and whispered, ‘Can I have a chat?’ ” he recalls. “She knew that I was married to an English girl, Caroline. She wanted to know about Islam. She was asking about being married when one person is Muslim and another is Protestant. She was interested because of what she was going through with [her then-boyfriend] Dr. Hasnat Khan. She didn’t mention him, but she assumed I knew it. I think she was wondering how the family would react to him and things like that.”

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Fighting Her ‘Awkward’ Nerves to Pose at the Pyramids

courtesy Anwar Hussein

“The day before Diana was going to see the pyramids [in 1992] we [the press corp] were invited for drinks. And she said to me, ‘When people ask me to stand in front of places like the pyramids, I feel awkward, especially when I’m on my own.’ I said, ‘You could easily pretend to be one of the best models in the world.’ And she said, ‘I don’t like posing. But I will do it really quickly—and once—and you can grab the picture.’ She also said, ‘I won’t tell you when.’ So I kept concentrating, and if you can see in the picture, she is posing playfully, for only a second or two. That’s why it happened. You can see in the picture she is in that moment. It was like a ballerina with her foot half up. At another time, later, she said to me, ‘You did get it, didn’t you?’ I had instinct. You learn to read how something is going to happen and use your instinct.”

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On the Street

courtesy Anwar Hussein

“A couple of times when I was chatting with her, I would say, ‘I don’t like to be a paparazzi, but sometimes there is a news story that we have to cover—it is part of the recording of history,’ ” Anwar says of the photo taken in 1995 at Chelsea Harbour Club in London. “She said,
‘I understand you are doing your job.’ If you look at the picture, she is looking ahead and smiling. When I started photographing the royals, I wanted to show them as more human and casual—and she said she wanted that too. She wanted to break away from the rigid ways. She was a different girl here from Shy Di. She had become almost like a model in the world of fashion. She was very confident and much happier. I photographed her when she was very skinny [during her eating disorder struggles], and then she was going to the gym and looked healthy.”

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Her Powerful Touch

Courtesy Anwar Hussein

Diana (comforting a patient in Nepal in 1993) “could genuinely show her affection,” says Anwar. “It came naturally to her, but she also knew which pictures would go around the world.”

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When Pavarotti Performed

Luciano Pavarotti and Princess Diana. courtesy Anwar Hussein

“In 1991 Luciano Pavarotti performed in a charity concert in London’s Hyde Park,” says Anwar. “It was pouring down with rain. This was an outdoor concert, and everybody had their umbrellas up. It was hard for people to see, and it was difficult for Pavarotti to see his audience and get a connection with them too. The concert organizers begged everyone to close their umbrellas so they could enjoy the show. Diana was the first one to do so, very quickly. Then everybody else across the audience followed. And of course she got soaking wet. He then dedicated an aria to her. When the concert was over, she ran inside, where I took this picture, and strode up to Pavarotti and said, ‘Well done.’ Then putting her hand on her head, she said, ‘Do you like my new hairstyle?’ She was really confident by now. She was playing for the cameras a little. She knew what to do and what to wear. They went on to have a close friendship.”

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Diana’s Famous Taj Mahal Photo Almost Didn’t Happen

Princess Diana. courtesy Anwar Hussein

When Diana posed alone in front of the iconic Indian monument in February 1992, the image quickly came to reflect her isolation from husband Prince Charles. They would separate later that year. Historically, “the Taj Mahal exists as the eternal monument of a husband’s love,” notes Anwar.
just before he got engaged. He said to us then, ‘I’d like to bring my girlfriend or future wife here one day.’ When Diana and Charles were in India, he went to another meeting, and she came to the Taj Mahal on her own. We didn’t know if she would come. She kept us waiting for a long time. It was really, really hot there. She looked sad, and she knew which way the story would go. She was very clever. There were other pictures taken that day on another bench when she seemed to be contemplating things.”

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A Poignant Parallel—Nearly 25 Years Later

Kate Middleton and Prince William. courtesy Anwar Hussein

As it was when his father took his famous Taj Mahal photo, “the day was so hot” in 2016 when Zak snapped William and Kate during a visit to the same bench where Diana had cut such a lonely figure. “It was around 122 degrees, and we were waiting in the sun for about five hours. The press officer said it was going to be up to [William and Kate] to decide if they’d sit in the same place at the last minute. But they sat at the bench. I was shooting it knowing in the back of my mind I was taking a historic picture. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Dad is proud of the fact that I had photographed her son there in exactly the same situation. He’s pleased with the results of it because I didn’t mess it up. It means quite a lot to us as a family that we have two generations shooting two generations.”

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Pregnant Polo Fan

courtesy Anwar Hussein

Diana was in her ninth month of pregnancy with William when Anwar captured this photo of her at a polo match in May 1982. “She started the interest in the modern royal family,” he says.

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Meghan & Harry’s Magic Moment

courtesy Anwar Hussein

The award-winning shot of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in March 2020 would become one of their last appearances before stepping back as senior working royals. “There was huge anticipation when Harry and Meghan finally returned to London after being away in Canada,” says Anwar’s son Samir, who took the photo.
“I didn’t have high hopes, because it’s very tricky shooting in rain. There may have been a TV crew with a strong light for their cameras coming from behind them. I managed to maneuver down slightly so the light was directly behind them as my flash went off. It created this halo effect. They looked at each other for a split second—it’s maybe half a second. It was one of those moments you dream of.”

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Harry’s Tender Hug

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. courtesy Anwar Hussein

“We were in this small town where they’d had a two-year drought,” Anwar’s other son Zak remembers of the 2018 day Harry and Meghan visited Dubbo, Australia. “They were greeted as soon as they got off the plane. And then this little 5-year-old boy, Luke Vincent, who has Down syndrome, ran out from under the rope and hugged Harry. It happened really quickly—I’m glad I had a long lens, as we were stationed a long distance away and got it all with Meghan’s reaction. It very much shows how they are. They’d just announced their pregnancy, and they were showing their natural affinity. Fifteen minutes later it [started raining]. You had this prince and this duchess who landed in this small town, and suddenly it was like they brought on this rain, in this Biblical moment.”

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On Display

The new photo exhibit, “Princess Diana: Accredited Access,” opens up Anwar Hussein’s remarkable archives to the public. courtesy Anwar Hussein

The immersive new exhibit is designed as a “walk-through documentary,” says curator Cliff Skelliter, with 140 images taken by the Husseins.