Artist overwhelmed by response to Queen and Paddington Bear drawing

An artist has been "overwhelmed" after thousands of people got in touch asking for a copy of her sketch of the Queen hand in hand with Paddington Bear.

Eleanor Tomlinson, from East Yorkshire, was inspired after watching the recent Jubilee celebrations featuring Paddington having tea with Her Majesty.

The image went viral on social media after she posted it online, she said.

Actor Hugh Bonneville, who starred in the Paddington films, was among those who had requested a copy.

Copies of the artwork have been requested by thousands of people, including Paddington star Hugh Bonneville

Ms Tomlinson, from Brough, said the idea had come to her as a "round-up of everything we'd all enjoyed over the last four days".

"Corgis, the Queen in that stunning green coming on to the balcony, marmalade sandwiches, bunting - just little touches like that really," she said.

"It was just meant to be a social media post and it just went a bit crazy from there."

Eleanor Tomlinson said she was "overwhelmed" by the response to her illustration

Ms Tomlinson said she has had to recruit members of her family to help deal with the mountain of emails - about 25,000 at the last count - and requests for copies of the watercolour sketch.

"Just incredibly kind comments," she said.

"To say I've been overwhelmed is an understatement."

The original drawing had been sold to a long-standing customer, she said.

However, she added that prints were being produced to satisfy the thousands of requests for a copy.