The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge charmed the world with stunning new portraits to mark their tenth wedding anniversary in April. The man behind the camera was photographer Chris Floyd, who has captured some of the world's iconic faces, including Paul McCartney, David Bowie and Sir David Attenborough.
Ahead of Chris flying to JFK airport to capture the emotional moment Londoners were reunited with their loved ones in New York for a new British Airways campaign, HELLO! caught up with him to find out what it was like to photograph one of the globe's most famous couples and how Prince William and Kate made him feel home at their Kensington Palace abode.
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WATCH: William and Kate release footage celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary
In a twist of fate, the day that Chris was asked to take the portraits of the Duke and Duchess was the first time in his life he'd ever been to Cambridge.
"It was a real honour to be asked, it really was, " he tells HELLO! And despite admitting that he gets nervous before any shoot, William and Kate made Chris feel at ease.
"We just had a really nice time. We came together for the duration of the shoot and within five minutes, I was just able to be myself. I think they were themselves as well," he says.
"And in that time, they were just another pair of people that I was photographing. I just forgot where I was and who I was with and I was just photographing a couple, who in this case, were celebrating their tenth wedding anniversary. There was no one else around, it was just me and them, and we had a really great time."
Chris's portraits showed the royals outwardly affectionate with each other
The photographs were beamed around the world on the night before the couple's wedding anniversary on 29 April. In a rare PDA, the two stunning shots showed the Cambridges sweetly embracing outside their London home, with Kate looking gorgeous in a blue floral print dress from Ghost as she snuggled up to her husband.
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Chris wasn't surprised by how affectionate the Duke and Duchess were, revealing: "I just wanted them to be themselves with each other and I just stepped back out. In order for me to get the picture that I got from them, I had to get out of the way and just let them be themselves. That was it really, I just tried to create an atmosphere that allowed them to be themselves with each other and I was there to document that."
© Chris Floyd / British AirwaysBritish Airways BA001 flight arrives in New York as loved ones reunite for the first time in 604 days
And once the images were shared by Kensington Palace, Chris describes the reaction as "absolutely mind-blowing".
"The really funny thing was I got home and about quarter past 10, my wife said to me, 'You need to put the bins out, the dustmen are coming tomorrow'. So I went out to put the bins out and when I came back in, it was 10.31 and you know when people talk about their phones blowing up, it was literally like my phone had blown up."
© Chris Floyd / British AirwaysThe flight marked the US entry restrictions being lifted for the UK
Describing the response as a "massive stampede," Chris gained 2,000 new Instagram followers within five minutes of the photographs being shared by the palace.
William and Kate spent their special day back in April in private, but to the delight of royal fans, they also released an adorable home video of them playing with their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, at their Norfolk home, Anmer Hall.
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