THE arrival of the future monarch was a blessed relief – not just for the happy couple, but for the hundreds of press photographers and cameramen from around the world that had been suffering for two days in hellish weather.
Brentwood's own seasoned royal lensman Arthur Edwards was not alone in wishing the birth of the future king would come sooner rather than later, as desert sun turned to almost tropical rain.
It was a world away from the day Prince Charles appeared with William in 1982, when a relatively small smattering of cameramen and press photographers waited patiently outside the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital for the first glimpses of the second in line to the throne.
Back in June 1982, the only TV crews outside the hospital were the BBC and ITV.
But since then, the global interest in the royals has exploded, no more so than in America, where each of the big networks sent teams of photographers and cameramen to cover the arrival – perhaps the most covered in history.
Since joining the Sun as royal photographer in 1977, Mr Edwards has photographed seven royal weddings, four funerals, and six royal births.
The 72-year-old said: "To be honest, it was a relief when it was all over – we were there for two days.
"The first day it was unbearably hot and then the second it was raining – it went from blazing heat to like being in a South American rainforest."
The day the baby was presented to the world, on July 23, was in stark contrast to the day that Charles took William home at almost the same age as his son is now, with little more than a handful of people waiting outside
For Mr Edwards, who lives in Hutton, the event had been building up to international fever pitch ever since Kate and William's wedding, when about four billion people tuned-in round the world.
He said: "I've never known such a fever over an event with the Royal family.
"There were crews from Mexico, Japan, Hungary, Poland; it was unbelievable and, of course, the Royals are absolutely huge in America – all the main networks had crews there.
"I think you can link this with the wedding of William and Kate – it caught the imagination of the world and you can't argue that with four billion people watching it across the world it wasn't a very special event."
He added: "It has been amazing – the public's opinion has grown higher and higher.
"Who knows what it would be like if Diana was still alive? One thing's for sure, she would have been a very glamorous gran."
