Queen Elizabeth II: Swindon artist receives one of monarch's 'last letters'

Judy Guillery received a letter from the Queen to thank her for the portrait she drew of her

An artist who believes she may be one of the last people to have received a letter from the Queen said she burst into tears when it arrived.

Judy Guillery, from Swindon, drew a portrait of the Queen to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee and sent it to Buckingham Palace in April.

She said she had hoped to receive something in return but was shocked when a letter arrived two days after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

"I feel very honoured," she added.

The letter arrived two days after the Queen's death, but was stamped on 8 September

Mrs Guillery said she had sent a copy of the portrait to the Queen "in the hope it might please her".

The thank you letter was stamped on 8 September - the day the Queen died.

"I knew as soon as I saw the envelope what it was and I started crying before even opening it," Mrs Guillery said.

"I have been caught off-guard by the feelings her death has caused, and then this happened and it hit me like a tonne of bricks.

"I will always be grateful for this acknowledgement, and though I know it comes from the Palace, I can hope that perhaps my letter picture reached her at some point and made her smile."

In the letter, the Queen thanks Mrs Guillery for her "kind message".

Judy Guillery drew the portrait to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee

To process the news of the Queen's death, Mrs Guillery started drawing another portrait of her, which she was working on when she received the thank you letter.

"It felt like a kind of resolution, like closure," Mrs Guillery said.

She added on her Facebook page: "I have always held high regard for the Queen, she has been a stable, quiet presence throughout my life and a huge part of what it means to me to be British.

"She was our example, our benchmark and I do feel the collective loss."

A video the artist shared on TikTok of her opening the letter has had more than 1.8m views.

"I got comments from all over the world - everyone is feeling the loss," Mrs Guillery said.

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