Prince Harry’s memoir Spare became the fastest-selling non-fiction book in the UK since records began after its release in January. The publishers had promised “raw, unflinching honesty”, it certainly delivered that. The Times helped dissect some of those salacious revelations.
This photograph was taken in 1999 at Highgrove where the press had been invited to capture the moment of Prince William learning to drive, just two years after the death of their mother, Diana, Princess of Wales. The Times photographer Peter Nicholls was there. It is one of the few images we have from that time of King Charles III with his sons. During their school years after an agreement between the palace and the press they were largely left alone, except during these organised photocalls. An earlier image from 1987 captures the princes with their father by the River Dee in Scotland. William finds his own path ahead as Harry holds his father’s hand to get across the water.
Prince Charles in Scotland with William and Harry in April 1987
JULIAN HERBERT FOR THE TIMES
Prince Harry takes aim at the media both in his book and in the new Netflix series. In doing so it has highlighted the complicated relationship between the royal family and the press.
Harry’s first encounter with the press, as seen on a Times front page in 1984
TIMES NEWSPAPERS LTD
Brian Harris captures just some of the photogaphers waiting for one-day-old Harry at St. Mary’s Hospital, Paddington
BRIAN HARRIS FOR THE TIMES
This month marked the centenary of Prince Harry’s great-grandparents’ engagement. The announcement was made in The Times: “It is with great pleasure that The King and Queen announce the betrothal of their beloved son, the Duke of York, to Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, daughter of the Earl and Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne’.
This image was taken at their London home in Bruton Street just days after their engagement but it was not published in the newspaper.
Lady Elizabeth Bowes Lyon at Bruton Street on her engagement to the Duke of York, later King George VI, in January 1923
TIMES NEWSPAPERS LTD
A recently digitised project followed the royal family on board HMS Vanguard for the tour of South Africa in 1947. Accompanying them was The Times photographer William Horton, capturing some candid, previously unseen images.
King George VI is seen smiling with his wife during games on deck. A stunning photograph captures one of the oldest naval traditions, The Crossing the Line Ceremony, which takes place when a ship first crosses the Equator and the crew must pay its respects to the Lord of the Seas, King Neptune, to gain his acceptance. What made this ceremony significant is the attendance of the King and royal family, who can be seen sitting amid the teeming deck of HMS Vanguard.
King George VI and Queen Elizabeth during games on their tour of South Africa in 1947
WILLIAM HORTON FOR THE TIMES
The King and his family can be seen on the deck of HMS Vanguard for the ceremony as it crosses the Equator
WILLIAM HORTON FOR THE TIMES
The future Queen Elizabeth II took part in the Crossing the Line ceremony
WILLIAM HORTON FOR THE TIMES
Rishi Sunak announced plans to legislate for “minimum service levels” in six sectors, including health, rail, education, fire and border security, to deal with public sector industrial action.
Researching the 1926 General Strike for our editorial colleagues uncovered some timely photographs. Miners are seen leaving a shift under police protection in September 1926.
Miners leaving a pit under police protection on September 2, 1926, during the General Strike
TIMES NEWSPAPERS LTD
The General Strike called by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) affected the press. This image shows a notice at the Times offices in London. The sign says that members of staff would “resume their normal duties tomorrow” on Monday, May 17. Printers at The Times generally had good relations with the proprietor and management; however, the printers did strike after agreeing to print the edition on May 4. A core group of non-union members and retired printers stayed at work and were transported in and out by the management. The following morning, the company chairman Major John Astor was greeted by pickets outside the offices. He responded by sending refreshments to them.
By the end of the strike on May 12, aided by cars and air deliveries, the truncated four-page broadsheet newspaper was selling 408,000 copies a day, more than double its usual daily circulation of 180,000. Despite enormous obstacles, The Times managed to sustain a continuous production from the year of its foundation, 1785. It is a publishing record that survived German bombing in 1940 and remained unbroken until March 1955.
The Times went down to four pages during the strike but its circulation more than doubled. According to the notice, staff went back to work on May 17, 1926
TIMES NEWSPAPERS LTD
Sunak admitted this month that he had used private healthcare, but insisted he was registered with an NHS doctor.
In 1963 Stanley Devon was assigned to photograph a GP surgery in south London, capturing a familiar scene as a mother and child wait at the gateway to the NHS: surgery reception.
The group practice medical centre at Sydenham, south London, in November 1963
STANLEY DEVON FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES
The prime minister also admitted this month that people were “waiting too long for the care they need” and that patients were not getting “the care they deserve”. The situation has been made worse by plans for further industrial action by paramedics and nurses.
Stanley Devon captured this image for The Sunday Times in 1960, 12 years after the formation of the NHS. A nurse at St Thomas’ Hospital is photographed wheeling a female patient from the ward for some fresh air. It captures a light-filled ward, a scene of caregiving and smiles.
A nurse takes a patient at St Thomas’ Hospital in 1960 on an outing for fresh air
STANLEY DEVON FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES
Sunak was given a “conditional fixed penalty notice” this month after filming a social media campaign clip without wearing his seatbelt. Road groups including the AA warned that “no matter who you are, it is important you wear your seatbelt”.
An interesting colour photoshoot for the Times Motoring Survey taken at the Road Research Laboratory in 1963 focused on road safety. Deep in the Berkshire forest, a £500,000 three-mile research track was the setting for a multitude of safety checks. The captions explained that “Cars are spun, crashed, bounced and skidded”, noting: “The long-term value of the work done at Crowthorne can be gauged only against a road accident death rate of 6,000 a year.” A crash test dummy is examined, and in a later picture yellow is highlighted as being the most eye-catching colour for road signs. The government test track is now a woodland walking site.
A dummy is helped out of a crash scene to be inspected at the Road Research Laboratory in 1963
BARKER/TIMES NEWSPAPERS LTD
Tests revealed that yellow would be the most effective colour for road signs
BARKER/TIMES NEWSPAPERS LTD
In recent months we have been working with our editorial colleagues curating interesting sporting tales.
Researching the White City stadium led us to a noteworthy set of unpublished images of Tex Austin’s World’s Championship Rodeo. Instead of greyhound racing, speedway or athletics we witness cowboy hats and horses in the incongruous surroundings of Shepherds Bush.
Betty Myers, a cowgirl trick rider from Okmulgee, Oklahoma, competed to be the world champion trick rider at White City, west London, in June 1934
CHARLES MAXWELL/KEMSLEY NEWSPAPERS
Competitors practise their skills before the start of Tex Austin’s World’s Championship Rodeo
THOMAS HOULDING/KEMSLEY NEWSPAPERS
“Suicide” Ted Elder of Texas practises jumping two horses “Roman-style” over a sports car
THOMAS HOULDING/KEMSLEY NEWSPAPERS
The new sporting year began with the PDC World Darts Championship, which produced nine-dart perfection in the final where Michael Smith beat serial champion Michael Van Gerwen. Smith’s third leg of the second set was a sublime moment of drama, Elgan Alderman declaring that “it was from the gods”.
One of the game’s legendary figures, Jockey Wilson, was photographed by Duncan Baxter in 1986 for The Sunday Times. Baxter, displaying his usual innovation, chose to use the wire from a dartboard as a prop, framing Wilson in the bullseye for an absorbing portrait.
Jocky Wilson at the Embassy World Darts Tournament in Surrey in January 1986
DUNCAN BAXTER FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES
It was another busy month providing content for our colleagues on the Times Register section. The Brazilian footballer Pelé died on December 29, aged 82.
His obituary featured a number of scans from our archive. Stanley Devon was assigned to The Lymm Hotel in Cheshire, the Brazilian base for the 1966 World Cup. It was the hotel of choice for the Brazil manager João Havelange, who wanted to shield some of his superstars from the media. A notice outside the hotel read, “The Brazilians will only be available to the press between 3pm and 4pm” with one bored policeman beside it to maintain order. Pelé is photographed beside that policeman. The Sunday Times article was captioned “the sad millionaire” and described Pelé as “an introverted remote figure imprisoned in the shell that protects him from the crushing weight of his fame”. A later image attempts to capture that feeling, as the world’s most expensive footballer sits alone on the deckchair in the garden.
Pelé, the greatest living footballer when this image was taken in Cheshire in July 1966, was in Britain for the World Cup
STANLEY DEVON FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES
The Sunday Times described him as “an introverted remote figure imprisoned in the shell that protects him from the crushing weight of his fame”
STANLEY DEVON FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES
Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida died aged 95. She was photographed at the Savoy Hotel in London to promote her own photography project, a book called Italia Mia. A scramble of press photographers is framed in the background as David Jones captures the attention of the Italian actress, who in turn focuses her lens on our man.
Gina Lollobrigida promotes her book of photographs at the Savoy hotel in London in September 1974
DAVID JONES FOR THE TIMES
The music world lost several legendary figures at the start of the year. David Crosby died aged 81.
As the founder of The Byrds, and then with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, he helped define the sound of American soft-rock music. He was described in his obituary as an “unreformed hippy who preached a genial philosophy of love and peace all his life”.
Crosby was photographed in London with The Byrds in 1965. Sitting far left, a cheeky-looking Crosby is pictured alongside his bandmates on their first UK tour, the first gig of which was the following day at the Nelson ballroom in Lancashire.
David Crosby, left, Gene Clark, Jim McQuinn, Mike Clark and Chris Hillman arrive at London Airport for their UK tour in 1965
A HARRIS/TIMES NEWSPAPERS LTD
Jeff Beck was one of the most influential guitarists of his generation. He first came to prominence with the Yardbirds in the Sixties before fronting his own band, The Jeff Beck Group.
Beck featured in a group photograph taken on a legendary evening in 1973. The recently deceased photographer Roger Bamber took the image for The Sun at the retirement party celebrating the last night of David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars tour.
Bowie famously retired Ziggy that night, declaring “not only is it the last show of the tour, but it’s the last show that we’ll ever do”. Beck joined the Spiders on stage at the Hammersmith Odeon for a medley of The Jean Genie and a cover of Love Me Do. The main afterparty in fact took place the following day at the Café Royal in Piccadilly. Attended by rock royalty including Mick Jagger, Lou Reed, Keith Moon and Ringo Starr, the debauched party became known as “The Last Supper”. Beck is photographed in the centre next to Lulu and his girlfriend Celia Hammond; they are joined in the front row by Ringo Starr, far left, Mick Ronson and Maureen Starkey, right. The back row consists of Edgar Broughton, Bianca Jagger, David Bowie, Angie Bowie and Tim Buckley.
David Bowie at an all-night retirement party for The Spiders from Mars at the Café Royal in Piccadilly, central London, in 1973. Bowie was quoted in 2002 as saying “I remember nothing of this party, absolutely nothing”
ROGER BAMBER/NEWS GROUP NEWSPAPERS LTD