A tattoo artist who shares a birthday with the Queen has inked a portrait of her late Majesty on his own leg.
Michael Purkiss, was so upset by the death of Elizabeth II that he decided to tattoo a portrait of her just above his left knee.
He decided to get the tattoo as he has the same birthday as the Queen, and he used to joke with people that every year she would send him a cake.
It took just over two hours and takes pride of place on his flesh next to an existing tattoo of fictional superhero Batman’s nemesis the Joker.
The 57-year-old chose a photo of the Queen, aged 26, when she was on her way to parliament for the first time.
In the image, she is smiling and looking away from the camera.
Michael, of Southampton, said: “I thought that I needed to keep her going somehow so I thought I’m going to tattoo her on my leg.
“I looked on Friday to see what the best picture was, and found a photo of when she was younger and smiling.
“Then I tattooed it on my leg upside down, but when you are doing it yourself it hurts more, and you have to do it upside down.
“I tattoo other people, but this hurts worse.
“I did it because she always had a happy little face and she was never judgmental with anyone, no matter what colour you are or what tattoos you have.
“She just treated you the same as everyone else, she was very none-judgemental about everything.”
Michael said he was “really sad” when he found out the Queen had passed away, as he had ‘always looked up’ to her.
He added: “On Thursday, I was watching the news with my mum and it was sad because she was ill.
“Then later on in the afternoon we obviously heard that she had died.
“Her birthday is on the same birthday as mine, so I felt really sad as I was always happy to tell everyone each year that the Queen sends me a cake.
“I always looked up to the Queen, thinking that she sets how we should act and treat each other – like the old school stuff like opening doors for people.”