AN East Anglian artist, who gained great recognition after painting the Queen, received an MBE yesterday.

AN East Anglian artist, who gained great recognition after painting the Queen, received an MBE yesterday.

Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy attended the ceremony at Buckingham palace in London, where she was delighted to be awarded an MBE by Princes Charles.

In 2000, Ms Chukwuogo-Roy, who lives in Hacheston, near Wickham Market, was selected from a shortlist of five to undertake the task to creating a portrait of the royal.

She became the first black artist to have painted the Queen.

The painting, which was commissioned by the Commonwealth secretariat to mark the Queen's Jubilee, took five sittings to complete.

The prestigious portrait shows the Queen standing in the window of a room in Buckingham Palace with a montage of images of some 54 countries of the Commonwealth in the background.

When previously asked about painting the Queen, the esteemed artist said that she has been nervous - although Her Majesty had tried to put her at ease.

The ceremony also saw recognition awarded to actor Jonathan Pryce and Olympic cyclist Geraint Thomas.