How a single mum upstaged the pros and snapped a royal photo seen round the world.

As any fan who’s managed to snap a photo of their favourite celebrity knows, normally the result is a blurry image anything but frame-worthy.

But when Karen Murdoch waited outside St Mary Magdalene Church with her daughter and friend on Christmas morning, she managed to take a photo of the royal couples that was better than any of the professional photography.

Karen’s photo of Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle – the first time they had been spotted altogether – has since graced the cover of several newspapers around the world.

After posting the photo to Twitter, the 39-year-old received several media requests, and upon receiving advice from other Twitter users, began charging a fee. And it’s certainly been profitable. Karen told the Telegraph she hopes the proceeds will help fund her daughter’s university education.

So how did a single mum with no professional photography training manage to capture such a perfect photo of the two couples, with Kate and Harry both looking directly at the camera?

Well, Karen told the Telegraph she “got lucky”, adding that she got their attention by shouting “Merry Christmas” causing them to turn to look at her.

“If you look at my daughter’s photo, my friend was stood on the other side of me, and I just think that we were all at the same angle and it was just luck. We were all giddy and laughing and enjoying the experience, we weren’t actually thinking about getting the best photo,” she said.

LISTEN: Meghan Markle has to give up her role as Rachel on Suits. How will the show survive without her? We discuss, on our pop culture podcast.

Karen told the newspaper that she and her 17-year-old daughter are royal fans who live nearby the Sandringham estate, and thought they might as well go have a look.

“Let’s go, we can be there for a few hours and then we can go to my auntie’s and have Christmas dinner, watch Doctor Who.”

But the rest of her day was largely spent fielding calls from media organisations either requesting to use the image or requesting interviews with the woman who took that amazing photo.

“I’ve had three interviews and been on the TV. I’ve never been so popular in my life… My phone has not stopped going.”

So who’s next on Karen’s royal watch list? Well, she said she’d love to spot Prince George and Princess Charlotte, but isn’t planning on turning into a professional paparazzo just yet.

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