A Right Royal Ruthinian

Dear Colin Edwards is something of a Rhuthun/Ruthin celeb. Actually, I think someone should add him as a notable resident on Wikipedia's Rhuthun page. Famed for his amateur English royal watching, he's often in the local and regional newspapers. Not just that, he's been on the telly to talk of things royal and had a picture of his on the front of the Daily Mail's Diana tribute magazine.

Now, Colin Bach's published his own book of personal English royal portraits, together with some reminiscences. To be honest, people might find his memories a little thin: there's only so much you can say about fleeting moments. You can't say that about the photos, though. True, there are a couple of shaky ones, but not many. The quality and nature of the majority mean the book really should go mainstream (though we suspect someone has used Photoshop to improve the area beyond the depth-of-field by blurring the background. Would an ordinary street camera actually do that so consistently?).

His publisher dubs him 'one of the UK’s top amateur royal family photographers'. To think, Edwards has used an ordinary camera and that itself should be an inspiration to those who think they need expensive kit to take decent images. In fact, there's many who invest in top flight stuff only to be disappointed. You don't have to be a photojournalist to take great shots. Journos do tend to have preferential access but Edwards makes up for that by arriving very early or even camping out.

Born in Rhuthun and after working in local government here, Edwards left at 25 to further his career in England but, upon early retirement, came back. But he still travels all over Britain to see the English royal family, spending hours and a fortune in the process.

If you read his book carefully, you will note that one Christmas he sent his usual card to the queen mother and explained to her he had broken his arm. Several weeks later, when he actually met her, she said how she hoped his arm was mended. There are examples of other encounters with other English royals. It shows that Edwards had become something of a known figure within the English royal household.

The 73-year-old now even has his own website

Or perhaps he was just another nuisance they had to put up with. Who knows. Does the English royal family tire of all the adulation and attention? They certainly dare not show it, not even the late Diana, a princess of Wales: on a couple of occasions Edwards reports she said, 'I think you're following me' and 'Harry, this is Colin. He [Colin] follows me everywhere'.

Also, it would appear that on at least one occasion the queen went out of her way to speak with him, something she need not have done.

There will be those who think that Colin Bach's continual royal-spotting travels are weird and obsessive. His behaviour towards the English royals is actually no different to an ardent football fan. Why cannot people get equally excited about non-sporting matters?

And who'd've thought I would buy a book on the English royal family. The pictures are all originals and virtually none has been published before, so far as I know. It's priced at  £15. 'A Personal Portrait of the Royal Family' is published by Candy Jar Books and is available from Spread Eagle Books, Upper Clwyd Street.