A Wimbledon fan who was accused of invading Meghan Markle's privacy by taking a picture of her said he had 'no idea she was there' and was actually posing for a selfie with the court behind him.
As Hasan Hasanov, who has been visiting the legendary tennis tournament for 15 years, took the picture before he was ordered by a royal bodyguard not to take snaps of the Duchess of Sussex.
But the 58-year-old tennis fan says that he in fact posing for a selfie on his iPhone with the players in the background which is why he was left baffled when he was asked: "Please give them privacy."
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According to The Sun, the oil and gas safety engineer, who queued from 5am and paid £25 for his Court One seat, said he did not know the Duchess was there and thought the bodyguard was asking him not to photograph the players with their shirts off.
He told the publication: "I honestly couldn't really care less about taking a picture of Meghan, Harry or any of the royals - and, if I did, I'd ask first. I was much more interested in getting a video of Roger Federer in action." Can't help but commend his honesty.
Hasan, who is originally from Azerbaijan but lives in Wallington, south London, realised that he'd had the royal run-in when his daughter sent him a picture of the article.
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He told The Sun: "It seemed crazy to me because all I did was take a selfie to send to my wife. I was in the best seat I'd ever had in 15 years of queuing up for Wimbledon and wanted to show off because she didn't get out of bed to join me."
The granddad and keen tennis player was delighted when he discovered that he'd bagged himself the prime spot to watch eight-time Wimbledon champ Roger Federer.
He said: "I couldn't believe my luck when I got there because the only restriction was occasionally having the umpire between me and the players.
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"I know lots of people would like to get pictures of Meghan and I know people get cross when she gets upset because she's a public figure.
"I won't be getting cross about this because - to be honest - I had no idea what was going on until days later. And I'll stay a fan of the royals."
What a nice guy.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: News, Wimbledon, Royal, UK, Meghan Markle