EXCLUSIVE: ‘You can look at it every day’: Ronnie Wood reveals Prince William keeps the charcoal portrait he drew of his grandfather Prince Philip in a ‘special place’
His tales of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll may not be to the taste of royalty.
But Ronnie Wood has revealed that Prince William was so impressed with the charcoal portrait of his grandfather, Prince Philip, that he keeps it in a “special place where he can see it every day”.
The 75-year-old Rolling Stones rocker recreated a photograph taken of the late royal doffing his hat in a parade to mark the end of a charity walk at Buckingham Palace in 2017.
Speaking to the Mail, Wood said: “I really loved that picture when I saw it in the newspaper.” I told William that picture really caught my attention…he’s taking off his hat.
“I captured it and [William] I thought it was amazing. He said “I’m not going to let the Queen have it.” He said: “She can take a look, but she doesn’t have it.”
EXCLUSIVE: Ronnie Wood has revealed that Prince William was so impressed with the portrait of his grandfather, Prince Philip, that he keeps it in a “special place where he can see it every day.”
Blast from the past: The Rolling Stones rocker recreated a photograph taken of the late royal removing his hat in a parade to mark the end of a charity walk in 2017
“He has it in a special place where he can see it every day,” he said.
William and Kate currently live at Adelaide Cottage in Windsor. It is not clear where the portrait is kept.
Wood, who started painting as a child, has also revealed that he has a secret stash of sketches of the late Queen.
‘I would have loved it [paint the Queen],’ he said. I’ve painted her in my spare time and I have a few pictures of her that I’ve sat on that aren’t quite right. A difficult thing to capture. Over the years I have done a few different sketches.
‘It is a commission that I would have loved to have done. Is the time. You have to have the person sitting for you and the time to dedicate to him…’
Wood spoke ahead of the release of his latest artwork, Stones in Cuba.
The colorful piece, which features the late drummer Charlie Watts playing a Cuban drum, Sir Mick Jagger dancing and bassist Darryl Jones tossing his Fedora into the air, is for sale with Wood’s handwritten repertoire from the historic Los Angeles free concert. Stones in Cuba in 2016.
The group performed to more than 500,000 people as part of the largest rock concert ever held in the country, whose government once considered the group’s music “ideological deviation.”
Sweet: Ronnie told the Mail: ‘I captured it and [William] I thought it was amazing. He said “I’m not going to let the Queen have it.” He said: “She can take a look, but she’s not going to have it.”
Unbelievable: Wood spoke ahead of the release of his latest artwork, Stones in Cuba, which is out now with Wood’s handwritten set list from the Stones’ historic 2016 free concert.
Wood created the piece in his Hertfordshire home after waiting for the ‘buzz to die down’ upon returning to the UK.
“I thought, we have to capture some of the magic that was created there before it’s in the distant past,” he said of the artwork. ‘Capture with the set list a little taste of the joy when we play there.
‘The sheer delight on people’s faces was simply pure love. They were hallucinated people, their dream come true. They never thought rock and roll would come back to them.
Wood will release 295 signed sets, costing £699, on Monday.
The Stones have been recording a new album and are looking to tour North America later this year.