01 February 2022

Ronnie Wood ‘invited to present his painting of Duke of Edinburgh to William’

01 February 2022

Ronnie Wood says he has been invited to Kensington Palace by the Duke of Cambridge to show him a painting he created of the late Duke of Edinburgh.

The 74-year-old Rolling Stones guitarist, who enjoys a parallel career in the art world, completed the work using brown sepia pastel shortly before Philip’s death in April.

Speaking at the unveiling of his new Pablo Picasso-inspired artwork in London, he revealed William had heard about the piece and requested to view it.

Ronnie Wood, with his wife Sally Wood (Kirsty O’Connor/PA) (PA Wire)

He also suggested the painting may be shown to the Queen.

Wood said: “I did a wonderful painting of the Duke of Edinburgh shortly before he died, where he is tipping his hat.

“I have been asked by Prince William to present the picture to him in the coming weeks and he is going to show the Queen. So that is a real honour for me.”

Wood, whose visual works have been displayed around the world, said he was “very pleased” with his portrait of Philip.

He added: “I was going to show it to him (the Duke of Edinburgh) and then William heard about it and he asked me to present it to him at Kensington Palace – and he wants to show the Queen, so I am very honoured.”

Ronnie Wood signs his new painting (Kirsty O’Connor/PA) (PA Wire)

The veteran rocker was joined by his wife Sally for the unveiling of his new painting of the Stones, reproduced on a giant billboard at Westfield London on Tuesday.

Titled Abstract Performance, the work was completed in 2020 and depicts him and his bandmates in the role of Picasso’s famous Three Dancers.

Wood also paid tribute to the Stones’ late drummer Charlie Watts, who died aged 80 in August.

He said: “He gave Steve Jordan, our new drummer, his blessing and it was a really wonderful, heartfelt thing from Charlie.

“He said, ‘I wont be able to join you just yet. I am not going to take any jobs away from people. I want everything to carry on as normal.’

“And Steve played for me, and he sure did, he really put a new boot behind the band and a new drive, and carried on the Charlie legend wonderfully.”

Limited edition prints of Abstract Performance are available until February 14 online.

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