It was billed as the photo-opportunity of the year. The photographers had waited for hours and the flashbulbs were ready.
And when Prince Charles and Mrs Camilla Parker Bowles appeared briefly, side by side on the steps of The Ritz Hotel in London late last night, the world's papparazi were there to capture a brief moment of Royal history.
Shortly before midnight Prince Charles and Mrs Parker Bowles emerged, hand-in-hand, and hundreds of cameras flashed in front of the couple's eyes as eager photographers clamoured for the first picture of the couple together since their relationship became public knowledge.
Scrutiny of this carefully orchestrated event revealed that any question of nerves had been put to one side and the Prince and Mrs Parker Bowles appeared relaxed, perhaps even relieved that this long-awaited moment had arrived. A cheer of approval from the crowd sealed the moment and the couple were driven quickly away.
After five years of dodging cameras at a succession of society weddings, charity events and birthday parties, the couple allowed the photographers a brief glimpse of their relationship and confirmed what everyone else had acknowledged long ago - that Mrs Parker Bowles is here to stay.
That the event was a significant, public declaration of their relationship was not lost on the photographers who had camped outside the entrance to The Ritz for nearly 24 hours.
The hype and speculation had been building for days and one of the first to arrive with his stepladder on Wednesday night was The Sun's photographer, Mr Arthur Edwards, who admitted he could not recall the last time he had been so nervous about taking a photograph: "It's an archival shot that's going to be shown in magazines and newspapers around the world. This is the day Prince Charles showed everybody how much he loves Camilla."
Hours before the couple attended the 50th birthday party for Mrs Parker Bowles' sister, Mrs Annable Elliot, the friendly banter among the photographers and film crews was underlined by strictly defined rules. Prime positions at the front of the police cordon at the entrance to The Ritz were already marked out with named strips of silver masking tape stuck to the ground and by the time Mrs Parker Bowles arrived for the party with two children shortly before 9 p.m. the narrow street in front of The Ritz was five-deep with photographers.
And should any rogue photographer have attempted to push their way to the front of the media pack or remove a carefully positioned stepladder hand-written signs warned: "Don't even think about moving these steps." The padlocks anchoring stepladders to security railings erected in front of The Ritz reinforced the message.
As with any gathering of photographers, interested tourists milled around and most seemed truly puzzled by the spectacle. Earlier, two women from Wales who had just visited the Monet Exhibition, turned the corner into Arlington Street opposite The Ritz and seemed extremely pleased to have stumbled upon "an event". Mrs Jean Howell-Richardson, from Cardiff, admitted her loyalty was still with the Princess of Wales: "But I don't think that Prince Charles should be lonely. It's time to forgive and forget and move on."
Her friend, Mrs Janet Davies, was not convinced: "This isn't right at all. I think he wants everything. He wants to be King and he wants to have Mrs Parker Bowles."