A local retired portrait artist, 73 year-old Terry O’Callaghan, has painted a portrait of Her Majesty the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh and generously donated it to be auctioned off by the Royal British Legion.
The portrait took over 3 weeks to complete, and has been well received by the Queen who wrote back to him that she was ‘very pleased with the portrait’ and has graciously thanked him for it.
Mr O’Callaghan said:’I did tell Her Majesty that I wished to donate the original portrait to The Royal British Legion in order that they may be able to derive funds from it at one of their fundraising events by auctioning the portrait or possibly raffling it etc… Her Majesty did comment that she was pleased that I was donating this portrait to The Royal British Legion in order to help with their fundraising efforts.’
The Royal British Legion is a cause close to this artist’s heart as his son serves in the British Army, and so he has painted and posted the portrait at his own expense.
With everything going on in the world this week, and in the run up to Remembrance Day, it is comforting to see this kind of generosity, and to witness the power art can have in spreading the respect and value that those like Mr O’Callaghan hold for the British Armed Forces.
