Royal Christmas photograph reaction 'overwhelming'

A mother has been "overwhelmed" by the response to her photograph of four smiling royals, which appeared on the front of numerous national newspapers.

Karen Murdoch, of Watlington, Norfolk, captured a beaming Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on Christmas Day at Sandringham.

Her image made the front pages of the Sun, Daily Mail, Mirror, Star, Daily Telegraph and Express newspapers.

Ms Murdoch, 39, said reaction to the picture has been "bizarre and bonkers".

She is hoping to use any proceeds from the snap to fund her daughter's studies. She says she now has an agent working on her behalf.

The amateur photographer told BBC Breakfast: "It was pure luck - I took it on an iPhone and it was a great photograph.

"The rest is history."

Asked how she got the Royals to look at the camera and capture the shot every photographer dreamt of, Ms Murdoch, who calls herself Karen Anvil on Twitter, said the secret was attracting their attention.

Both Prince Harry and the Duchess of Cambridge are looking directly into the camera with relaxed and natural smiles.

Ms Murdoch posted the image on Twitter at about 11:00 GMT on Christmas Day - and got thousands of likes. Her previous record was just five.

Four hours later she was still receiving messages from media organisations asking for permission to use the picture. Other Twitter users advised her to negotiate a price.

Arthur Edwards, royal photographer at The Sun and veteran of more than 200 royal tours, was also at the scene - and happily admits Ms Murdoch's image was the best of the day.

He told the BBC News website: "Getting all four of them lined up like that - it was a stunning snap.

"It was pot luck her being in the right spot, but she still got the photo.

"I rang her up to congratulate her on getting the front page of the Sun today."

He added: "We had probably the 20 best photographers in the country there, and she's scooped us all."

Ms Murdoch is now directing enquiries to a photographic agent.

"Now I want to save money for my daughter for uni and if I can get that opportunity that's amazing," she said.

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"I hope this will help, because she wants to go into some form of nursing.

"I want to be able to support her as her mum."

Ms Murdoch has tweeted that the Daily Mail paid her £50 to use the image online.