EMILY PRESCOTT: The poignant photo with Mummy that King Charles had to restore

It was a poignant scene as King Charles wandered outside Buckingham Palace in the depths of his grief, speaking to members of the public who were also saddened by his mother’s death.

But one of those brief encounters would lead to the creation of a cheery new photo of the king with his beloved ‘mummy’.

Former soldier Ben Lopez, who now works restoring old photographs with his company Loved Ones Forever, found himself talking to Charles on his walk. Ben told Charles what he was doing and offered to refresh old snaps of the Prince and his mother.

King Charles found this old photo of him at the age of one with his mother, the then Princess Elizabeth

Former soldier Ben Lopez, who now works restoring old photographs with his company Loved Ones Forever, found himself talking to Charles on his walk. Ben told Charles what he was doing and offered to refresh old snaps of the Prince and his mother

And he was stunned when he later spoke to a courtier, who asked Ben to restore an old photograph of the Queen with Charles when he was one year old, taken in 1949.

Ben tells me: ‘The Palace called back after Charles found a photo he wanted to restore. Usually it takes me about half an hour to an hour, but this one took a few days – it had to be perfect.’ Ben, 35, who carefully copied and colored the old photo, tells me he worked on a photo for actor Tom Hardy before.

The recovered photo may now be behind the palace walls, but last weekend a copy was auctioned for £35,000 at a Children with Cancer charity gala, an event attended by celebrity guests including The Office actor Martin Freeman, athlete Paula Radcliffe and Strictly Come Dancing’s Arlene Phillips.