An artist from Northern Ireland said she's been left "overwhelmed" after a member of the Royal Family placed an order for one of her Christmas designs.
Sonya Bacon-McKay is an artist based in the village of Ballinderry near Lisburn, and turned her life-long love of art into a business in 2018 when she returned home after owning two successful bridal boutiques in England.
In September, following the death of Queen Elizabeth, Sonya shared an illustration of the former monarch and Paddington Bear on social media, with the post becoming very popular.
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Since then, Sonya has created a Christmas portrait of the Queen and Prince Philip dressing a Christmas tree, with each bauble on this tree holding significance for the Royal Family. Both of these portraits were then turned into baubles for the festive season.
Earlier this month, the artist's baubles were featured in an article in Hello Magazine, which led to an influx of orders coming in from around the world, and led to a member of the Royal Family falling in love with Sonya's design.
A member of staff working for the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, got in touch with Sonya and asked if there was any way she could do a "supersized" version of her 8cm bauble - with a request to blow it up to 30cm.
"The girl who contacted me kept saying 'my boss', I thought it must be some hotel where they have a massive tree," Sonya told Belfast Live.
"I thought nothing else of it, and told them I'd have it with them for December 1st. I asked for their address and she said it was The Royal Lodge, Windsor Estate.
"I Googled it and just sat gobsmacked, I couldn't believe it. I thought I was reading it wrong.
"The next day, I messaged her and said I was showing my friend the bauble and she asked who it's for - I said I was assuming it's for a hotel.
"She replied back telling me who it was for, and said 'the bauble means a lot to the Duchess, as she was very close to the Queen. What you've created is just perfect.' They told me the Duchess had seen the small version of the bauble and loved it.
"Once I heard who it was for, I wanted to gift it. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity. I sent her over the original illustration then another with Philip and the Queen dressing the tree, so she has one of each now."
Sonya said the whole situation still feels "so surreal", and said she has plans to create more Royal portraits in the months to come.
She said: "I'm planning on doing a coronation one. I wanted to do something showing the Queen passing the title on to Charles, a mother passing the title over to her son. That'll be my next thing to focus on for the New Year.
"But it all still feels so surreal. Who can say they've been asked to provide something so special for a Royal?"
You can find out more about Sonya's designs by clicking here.
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