A NOTED artist who painted the Royal Family for the Queen Mother’s 100th birthday has paid his own touching tributes to the Duke of Edinburgh.

John Wonnacott, from Chalkwell, says he virtually lived at Buckingham Palace between 1999 and 2000 - with it taking a year to create his masterpiece called The Royal Family, a Centenary Portrait.

The portrait - standing at about 11ft tall - saw Mr Wonnacott spend a total of seven hours with Prince Philip over the course of the year. To this day he still has sketches of the Duke in his home.

He said: “I worked with the Royal Family on the large painting for the Queen Mother’s 100th birthday, it was her centenary painting so it was quite important.

“When I showed Prince Philip the way I was working he was seriously interested, he was very much a technical man.”

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Mr Wonnacott was clear about the Duke’s immense importance to the family and worked hard to reflect that in his portrait.

He added: “Where I felt the Duke was so central to the family, every perspective line in the picture actually goes through his forehead.

“I’d be at the palace every week, but I never once got the family to pose altogether. I would paint them at different locations and then brought it together.”

Mr Wonnacott, 80, expects the painting, currently stored at the National Portrait Gallery, could be on show again once the venue opens.

He added: “I was shocked to hear of his passing, it did make me feel sad.

“We all got so used to him with the Queen and their long lived marriage, and the Duke could be very funny. “He was certainly quite a witty kind of guy who will be missed.”

Mr Wonnacott was appointed a CBE in 2000.