News
The Duchess of Cornwall contributes her own watercolour to the WarHorse exhibition
19th October 2011
The Duchess of Cornwall tonight unveiled a watercolour painting she had produced of a horse badly injured by an IRA nail-bomb attack almost 30 years ago.
Sefton captured the hearts of the nation as his courageous battle back to health made headlines in the wake of the blast on 20th July 1982.
Horse carcasses littered Hyde Park after the device exploded as the Blues and Royals made their way from Knightsbridge Barracks to Horseguards Parade for the Changing of the Guard ceremony.
Her Royal Highness said she "did spend hours" working on the small painting, but admitted "it was quite fun".
The artwork was submitted for a display paying tribute to the millions of horses enlisted by the British Army.
The Duchess met Michael Morpurgo, author of the novel War Horse, at the opening of the War Horse: Fact and Fiction exhibition at central London's National Army Museum. Her Royal Highness was attending as President of The Brooke, which promotes the welfare of working horses and donkeys overseas.
Morpurgo's novel War Horse tells the story of Joey, a horse who is taken from a farm in Devon to the frontline of the First World War.
Mr Morpurgo said he was impressed by The Duchess's painting.
"It's terrific. When she gets involved in something she commits to it, and I like that," he said.
He also praised the exhibition for "grounding in knowledge" the themes explored by his book.
"This is all about finding out what the facts were and through that we arrive at the understanding of how huge and senseless that war was and how many creatures - man or beast - suffered," he said.
The Duchess of Cornwall wore a navy dress coat for the event, and a brooch supporting the Brooke animal welfare charity.
The 1982 novel War Horse has been adapted for a successful stage production, which The Duchess has seen.
A film version, directed by Steven Spielberg, will be released in January.