I always liked this shot from Durham station looking towards the castle and the cathedral and it was taken during a routine assignment to get some scenes and general views of that fine city.

It was 1999 and it turned out that Prince William had been offered a place at Durham University a year before he finished his A-levels.

I was reminded of the story following the recent furore over the well publicised right royal family rift between him and his brother but let’s not go there eh?

Basically I had to get various photos in Durham and I even got some pics of the local police station – innocent enough I thought until a police officer rushed out to challenge me about why I was photographing the building. It was quickly resolved when I showed him my press card and explained that I was working for a national Sunday newspaper and getting general shots of the city.

The story appeared in the Sunday Mirror, which originally commissioned the photos, the following weekend and they chose my preferred shot of the cathedral and castle and there were some interesting facts about Durham included in the article.