Mario Testino: Princess Diana Is My Favorite, Took My Career To Another Level (PHOTOS)

The Telegraph quickly caught up with Mario Testino, whose 30-year oeuvre was celebrated at El Museo's annual gala in Manhattan on Thursday night. The Peruvian photographer told the British newspaper that "so many people" have asked him to name his favorite subject over the years, and "It would have to be Princess Diana, it took my career to another level."

He added, "England is the country where I learned my profession. They are the ones that trained me, they are the ones that believed in me. I owe a lot to your country. For me, photographing the Royals is my way of giving back to the country: documenting this tradition and the history, which for a Peruvian (apart from Paddington Bear) there are very few of us that can be a part of it. I feel very attached to the English."

Princess Diana isn't the only member of the firm to sit for Testino. Most recently, he was enlisted to shoot then-Prince William and Kate Middleton's engagement photographs last year. He told Vogue about the experience, writing:

When I had photographed Prince William's mother, I brought along a CD of Dalida, a French singer, that we played on set all day to relax everyone. I decided to do the same thing for Catherine and William. The contrast of the contemporary informal music playing in the beautiful rooms with so much history caused a lot of laughter. There is something about Prince William and Prince Harry that brings real modernity to the British royal family. They are also very open, human, and kind, and this is what I have tried to capture in the pictures I have taken of them as well as in my pictures of Prince William and Catherine.

Take a look at some of Testino's work. And read the rest at Telegraph.co.uk.