King Charles's portrait artist revealed he suffered a heart attack before finishing the "fiery red" painting of the monarch.
Jonathan Yeo, 53, is the artist behind the new portrait of the King, which was commissioned in 2020 to celebrate the then-Prince of Wales's 50 years as a member of The Drapers' Company.
The artist had four sittings over several years, beginning when His Majesty was Prince of Wales in June 2021 at Highgrove, and later at Clarence House.
The painting, mainly red, shows the King wearing the uniform of the Welsh Guards, of which he was made Regimental Colonel in 1975.
Jonathan Yeo painted the new portrait of King Charles
Getty
Yeo revealed he suffered a heart attack in March last year when he was painting the portrait.
He told The Times his heart stopped one Sunday and that the sensation began with a "weird flushing feeling".
Yeo then felt pain spread to his arms and insisted he did not want to call an ambulance. Then 10 minutes after a paramedic arrived to assist him, he collapsed.
The artist said: "I had this out-of-body experience, where I was being led off and shown another world and you find you're looking down at something chaotic. And it's like: 'Well, do you want to go there or there?'"
The first official portrait of King Charles since his Coronation was recently unveiled at Buckingham Palace
PAYeo said he felt like he could not die because he still had "stuff to do", adding: "The second you make the decision, you're back in your body with the [paramedic] saying: 'Stay with me'."
He admitted the colour choice on King Charles's painting may have been psychological, due to his medical emergency.
Yeo told the publication: "[The colour] may also have had psychological backing, because I had a heart attack [in March 2023] when I was painting this. But certainly none of that I was conscious of — it was just: I like this colour."
The artist described the King as a "caring, thoughtful person" and said he only spoke to him briefly about his illness.
Jonathan Yeo has opened up about his heart attack
PA
Yeo said he was unaware of the King's cancer diagnosis during the final sitting for the painting which took place in November 2023 at Clarence House.
He said: "I didn't sense anything wrong in particular. And also I think when you've got cancer...it's often towards the end of the treatment that it takes a more physical toll."
Speaking about how the portrait will be received, he said: "There's always people who will disagree with you on how to paint these things.
"People may not agree with how I've done it but it's a bit different from the other royal portraits I've seen."
LATEST ROYAL NEWS:
Queen Camilla was also present for the unveiling
PA
Yeo said the bright red colours were part of that, explaining: "I was playing with this idea of mysticism. We still buy into the idea of the Royal Family being a bit different from us in some way."
He also touched on the King as a sitter, saying in the short clip: "He'll pretend to laugh at your jokes and be funny and curious and interested. He's good at putting people at their ease.
"All of us have our biography etched into our faces. It was more the weight of the world on his shoulders once he'd become King - but he hadn't lost his sense of humour or his curiosity about lots of different things. He was always asking questions and interested in everything."
