The People's Portrait

Queen Elizabeth I...

..William Shakespeare...

..Oliver Cromwell...

..Isaac Newton...

..Charles Darwin...

..Charles Dickens...

..Winston Churchill...

..Princess Diana.

These Great Britons have one thing in common -

their images hang on the walls

of the prestigious National Portrait Gallery in London.

Here, you can meet the men and women that have made

and are making British history -

their faces preserved in paint, their legacy preserved forever.

Now, for the first time, the British people have chosen

who they want to be painted, as an icon of our times.

Hello, and welcome to your Friday One Show with Chris Evans...

In September 2013, viewers of the BBC's One Show

voted from a list

of 12 candidates, including some

of Britain's best loved and most respected people.

12 inspirational Brits on a very special shortlist.

I'm not some cuddly little old lady.

The nation's choice was Simon Weston.

Congratulations, Simon Weston.

During the Falklands War of 1982, Simon was on board the Sir Galahad

when it was bombed by Argentine planes.

He suffered horrific burns

and the nation followed his fight for survival.

His battle to overcome his injuries,

make a success of his life and help others,

has inspired many.

People just look at the scars, they see sadness.

Ultimately, my life is a very happy life

and I'm a very happy person.

Thank you very much.

Now, I'll follow Simon over three months as his portrait is painted,

so he can take his place on the wall among our greatest Britons.

I really don't want this to be a negative picture.

It's got to be all about let's look forward, look what life can be

because it was a battle and it's been won really.

CHEERING

Go on! Come on!

I joined Simon on the way to the National Portrait Gallery

for his first meeting with the artist who'll paint him.

I was just privileged to be involved in the vote, really.

But other than that, I didn't expect to win at all.

I mean, I probably would have voted for Michael Palin.

And why do you think people did vote for you?

I have no idea, um...

perhaps half my family

had me on speed dial or something, I don't know.

Half the population of Wales!

One might think that you might be a little bit trepidatious

-about having your portrait painted.

-No, not really.

-I mean, people stare anyway, you know, so...

-Do they still?

Yeah, gosh, yeah, I mean, it is what it is, you know,

I go on holiday, people stare.

I've had people say and do some very irreverent things

about the way I look, you know, the Sun newspaper of Canada, um...

had an article saying I was the ugliest person in the world,

so I suppose anything from there is an improvement.

That must have hurt.

Um, not really. I mean, it's not nice and you don't enjoy it,

but, um, hurt - I wouldn't let them hurt me.

Do you have a view how you want this portrait to be painted,

what you'd like to be wearing or what you'd like in the background?

Is it just your face? Is it all of you?

-I suppose...

-You must have thought about it.

..a mankini or budgie smugglers are out of the question!

I don't think that's going to work.

The gallery is one of my favourite places

because it tells the story of Britain,

not through dry, historical fact,

but through the faces and characters of those that shaped it.

-So have you been to the National Portrait Gallery before?

-Once.

Because you'll be in illustrious company here.

-Yeah.

-We have our Kings and Queens here, Henry VIII, Elizabeth I.

Yeah, I know, and me, little old me from the valleys.

SIMON LAUGHS

The artist chosen to paint Simon is Nicky Philipps,

one of Britain's leading portraitists.

She was classically trained in Italy

and is a firm favourite of the Royal Family.

She's painted the Queen,

and her acclaimed portrait of the two princes, William and Harry,

hangs in the National Portrait Gallery.

I knew what I wanted to do with Harry.

I very much wanted to do his profile.

-OK.

-He's got a fantastic nose

and actually William was leaning against the pillar in my studio,

waiting for me to tell him what to do

and I just turned round and there was the picture.

It was, you know, I was blown away by having them in there anyway,

and it was such a privilege to see this little scene going on,

and I thought, "Well, I'll share that with everyone."

I just love the way the hand's on the sword

and they're just so relaxed.

I should think he felt like using it on me, you know,

at the end of the day.

I think you're being too harsh.

It's really good fun painting uniform,

all those lovely highlights on the medals and things.

Makes me wonder what the heck I'm going to wear now,

cos I haven't got a uniform.

I think what you're wearing today is rather nice.

I think you might have conquered that one already.

Having your portrait painted for the gallery is a serious business.

I don't know if Simon's been warned about this,

but it might take a bit of time.

It all starts with a formal meeting in the boardroom.

Um...cut off.

There is a...

a deadline for this portrait, which is

the February Trustee's meeting

and that's where our portraits are approved for the collection.

So there's a chance it could NOT be approved?

There is the possibility that it might be rejected.

-No pressure, then, eh?

-Nicky's shuddering at the thought.

I've got something to look forward to, then.

Nicky, when looking at a portrait, it tells you about the character

of the sitter, and so much of one's character comes through one's face

and, of course, your face is not the face that you were born with.

Yours is the face as a result of what happened to you.

So how is that going to affect how you go about it?

I suppose it's not the first time he's put his image in the hands

of somebody else, but, I mean, you know, there's a lot in those eyes

and, you know, there's still plenty of expression in his face,

despite the fact it not being... not necessarily being born with that,

and I think the best I'll be able to do is glean what comes from it -

the Simon Weston of today.

What are your feelings about that, Simon?

Are there any things that you... don't particularly like

that you wouldn't want emphasised?

No, er, this is a...

this is a collage.

I know it's been put together from different parts of my body

and I'm missing bits of it.

My mother said, how on earth are they going to paint me

without any ears and how do you keep me from being lopsided

and then she said to me about, you know, have you got that many shades of pink?

So, you know, I can't be vain.

But, no, I've got no ego on it.

You know, when you look at that painting that was done

of the two Princes, you know, that looks exactly like them to me,

so...can't ask for any more than a true interpretation

of the person that's there really.

Can I ask... Simon, I've noticed in the little time I've spent with you,

-that you gesticulate quite a lot.

-Yeah.

And your hands, which were badly burnt as well,

are very much part of your story.

What do you think, Nicky, about them as part of the portrait?

I think they should be part of it, I really do.

You know, it's not just his face that was affected and, um...

it's part of the story, quite an important part.

That was you trying to rescue a colleague, wasn't it, on the Sir Galahad?

I tried to pull him out, but he sadly died in my hands, yeah.

That's war.

INSTRUCTIONS ARE GIVEN

No, no!

Just one move, go.

Beautiful, keep going.

Keep going, that's lovely.

-Ah!

-Tuck your arms in, well done.

Down...

Simon's harrowing experience was captured in a documentary

called Simon's War.

It's incredible...

..seeing these injuries and imagining somebody coming back from them.

All right, would you like to try moving those fingers again?

A lot of people tend to think I'm going to be quite sad or dour

because of what's happened, and far from that.

My life is a very happy life and I'm a very happy person.

And you've said that what happened to you,

being caught in that inferno,

was the best thing that could have happened to you.

Look, I didn't want to be injured and I wish I'd never been injured,

but there are 48 men on board the ship

that would love to be in my position right now

and I'm sure their families would think the same thing.

Just hang on, lad.

It built me up to be who I am

and it built me up then to give me the opportunities.

I don't know what my life would have been had I not been injured

but as I did get injured in the way that I did

and I was to come back alive,

then I have to accept that it's the best thing that happened to me

because it could have easily been 49 people.

-Let me just see if that's ready to move. Is that sore?

-No.

Oh, I don't think I can watch it.

There's still some areas, I think,

that might need some new skin put on.

As long as you can sort my eyes and my hands out,

-I don't care what you do.

-Those are first on the list.

His face is everything, and his hands, you know, he says here,

he wants his eyes... Oh, my God!

He wants his eyes and his, er...

and his hands to be OK.

-My eyes and my hands.

-That's right, you've got your priorities right.

I need to capture what's in the eyes, really.

If people just look at the scars, they see sadness

and they see 85-plus operations, between 500 and 700 units of blood

and blood products being given to me, um...

the fact that my heart stopped twice and things, ultimately, you know,

whatever happened has happened, but, you know, those are just things.

They're quite big things.

They are big things, but big things happen to lots of people

and yet they survive, but they've never had the enjoyment of life

that I've had, so, you know, I have to accept that, you know,

I've been damned lucky and I really do feel that.

I'm the luckiest guy I know.

He's spent the best part of 30 years being positive about his life.

I want to concentrate on that.

CHEERING

If you've got to take something out of tragedy, take the positives,

take the humanity, take the laughter,

take every other bit of goodness and kindness

that existed at that point in time.

If we can encompass just a little bit of that in the portrait,

then, you know, that would make me very happy,

because it would show the real me.

# Well, I'm a lucky man

# With fire in my hand... #

CHILDREN SHOUT

It's the day of the first sitting

and Simon is in West London on his way to Nicky's studio.

Right, can I just try this?

-OK, I'm going back where you are.

-Right, sorry.

Nicky's first job is to work out

how Simon will pose for his historic picture.

-I wonder if it might... just try it and see.

-Mm-hm.

We might go back.

Lean forward.

I like the leaning forward.

That's too low, up.

-Up off there.

-I was just getting comfortable.

I know, it's a nice chair, that one.

Sorry, this is very boring.

Think of what you're going to do tomorrow,

cos I need to do some thinking.

No, no, no, no. None of that. Sit forward.

Oh, sorry, I thought I was supposed to do some thinking

while you were doing some thinking.

-Well, yes, but you can think and pose at the same time, with any luck.

-OK.

I think you need to be standing...actually.

Come round this way. That's it.

And now look towards me, right.

My mother's never going to forgive me for not having a tie.

Actually, come forward a little.

God, it's a complex business, this, isn't it?

Yeah, it is. You've got to be really patient.

You've got to be good, otherwise I'll go berserk

and produce something hideous.

That would be scary.

Just stand. I want your weight quite far forward on the chair

-if you could.

-OK.

Believe it or not, when I was injured and on board the ship,

a shadow appeared at the end of my bed.

-Mm-hm.

-Put their hands at the end of my bed

and just cocked one leg in front of the other and leaning like that

and when I explained the day that it had happened, my grandmother said

that my mother's real father, she had prayed to him all day.

-Oh.

-And whether I... I don't know whether I believe it,

whether I was hallucinating or whatever,

but I can remember it as clear as a bell, ringing in my ears.

Do what you said that person did at the end of the bed.

Oh, yeah, it's a really nice pose, that.

Inspired by his story of a ghostly vision,

Nicky begins by roughly sketching Simon in charcoal.

I want to see if this is the way to go. It might change.

She has lots of questions about that fateful day

in the summer of 1982 in the Falklands.

Do you actually remember everything?

Pretty much.

Was there a lot of warning?

-No, none.

-None at all?

Two, three seconds, maybe four seconds.

-Oh, right.

-Um, and it's as quick as that

and it was quite, well, surreal is, er...

is probably wrong because it was very real.

-Did it knock you out to start with?

-No, no, I was awake through it all.

-You were awake the whole time?

-Yeah.

-What time of day was it?

-About two o'clock in the afternoon.

Oh, right.

It was a brighter day than this, much brighter day than this.

At what point did you realise how badly you'd been burnt?

Oh, gosh, I had no idea.

I had no idea for weeks.

I just accepted that I was in a pretty bad situation

and that my war was over.

After the Falklands War,

Simon returned to his home town,

Nelson, in the Welsh valleys,

to rebuild his shattered life.

I love Wales, this is home.

Everywhere else would just be somewhere I would live,

but this is home, will always be home.

Without the people here, I wouldn't have grown up to be the person I am.

And how important was their support

when you came back from hospital when you'd been so badly injured?

Oh, it was immense.

CHEERING

It was huge, you know,

being in a community like this is just so important.

I don't know whether I would have survived as well

had I been brought up in a city.

The people supported my family as much as they supported me.

CHEERING

There was one person always at Simon's side

during his recovery - his mother, Pauline.

She's been an incredible person, an incredible confidante

an incredible critic.

She's been everything.

'Simon's mum is clearly such a central figure in his life,

'I'm very keen to meet her.'

Thank you very much.

-Well, hello.

-Pauline, hi.

-'When you first saw Simon, you didn't know it was him?

-No.'

I've seen you so much on the news.

When you first saw him and realised that was your son,

what went through your mind?

I couldn't believe it, um, I went to the floor...

He came out of the ambulance.

And I said to my mother, "Look at that poor boy," and he said,

"Hello, Mam, I'm all right, I'm alive," he said.

And my legs went from under me.

I just couldn't believe that this fine, handsome,

rugby-playing boy had gone away and this poor lad I had back.

Can you shift this pillow up a bit at the back of my neck, Mam?

'And the smell got to you, the smell of burnt flesh.

'It was beyond, it really was,

'and trying to see through,

'well, no eyes really, you know, they were all closed up and burnt.

'It was...it was awful to see.'

Look at my legs, they're like chicken's legs.

-Oh, God, son.

-But they're a lot better, Simon, to what they were.

'And I'm looking at this lad on a Saturday'

and he should have been out enjoying himself, not lying in the bed

the way he was, and it seemed to go on for ever.

Right, turn your hand. And work on

getting your thumb over your hand.

Try and reach your thumb again.

He must have had

great strength to have gone through what he did.

And so must you because the thing that struck me

when you were sitting by Simon's bedside, and every now and again

-the camera would turn from Simon's terrible injuries to your face.

-Hmm.

And I looked at it, thinking,

what a Herculean effort you were making, to hold it together for him.

-Yes.

-That must have been incredibly hard.

-It was very, very difficult.

I must have kept that in for a good 18 months.

It was terrible but I can remember,

I sat in the house one day, and I cried and cried,

and they talk about lumps of tears coming up. They were lumps.

I had such a sore throat afterwards.

I mean, when he talks about you, it is so touching because he says

he loves you desperately

and that you are the absolute rock in his life.

Well, well, well. We don't discuss anything.

We don't say anything at all.

But you know all that, though, don't you?

Er, perhaps I did, and I've forgotten.

CHEERING

This is what I wanted, I think, when he was injured - work,

married and have a family. That was my ultimate for him.

What more could you want out of life, isn't it?

His former life is gone now and he lives for his children,

his beautiful wife, and his grandson,

and goes forward.

I'm on my way to Simon's second sitting, to learn more

about how Nicky works and how she plans to capture Simon in paint.

Well, I keep my paint in the freezer

because it stops it forming a skin.

Is this the standard colours that someone would select

or do you have particular ones?

No, well, I have standard flesh colours.

That's white which is...

That is actually titanium white.

Then there's yellow ochre.

That's vermilion. That's a very, very expensive Chinese vermilion

-which is £52 a tube.

-Oh.

For a little tube like that. That's alizarin crimson.

I had to go to the British Museum to find these out.

-And you describe yourself as classically trained.

-Yes.

What does that actually mean?

It's basically the grammar of painting.

You need some sort of structure,

and I don't mean to completely dismiss all the art schools,

but an awful lot of it was lost through the 20th century, I think.

Are you talking about the Young British Artists - Damien Hirst,

Tracey Emin, that kind of thing?

That is almost a different thing. I wouldn't really say

they were "artists" in the sense that I know it.

I mean, they're crafts people, their ideas are zany

and, you know, in some cases, fabulous,

-in some cases I think a waste of time.

-Like what?

-Oh.

-Tracey Emin's tent?

Fiona, that's so mean. They'll come after me.

Does that float your boat?

No, I just think, you know, those are sort of designed

to raise eyebrows and to horrify people, er...

-I don't know why really.

-Is it art?

-I don't think so.

You may produce all sorts of fun things

but it's never going to be real quality.

-Right.

-Ta-da!

The paint has defrosted and it's time to get Simon down on canvas.

Nicky prefers a traditional method of painting,

passed down the centuries.

Basically I am painting this sight-size. It is a method that was

originated with Leonardo da Vinci and it was used... It's been used

by most of the great portraitists through the years, actually.

Titian, Reynolds, Gainsborough.

So I'm actually not looking at him when I'm putting the paint on.

-I look at him from here. I have my given spot.

-Oh, yes,

-you've marked it out.

-And I just return to this point all the time,

OK? This is sort of where I'm supposed to be.

And then I just walk up, so I'm basically reproducing

on the canvas, what I'm looking at.

-And what's the benefit of doing it back there?

-Because you can see.

Because you can see the two images right next door to each other.

-I mean, literally.

-Hmm.

He's standing there, you put the canvas alongside him.

In this case, he doesn't want to see it,

-so I've put it very slightly in front of him.

-That was your choice, Simon?

I just want to see it when it's finished.

It's like unwrapping a Christmas present.

You know it's under the tree but you've got to wait

two or three weeks before you can unwrap it.

I hope it's going to be a nice Christmas!

Will you look at it at the end of each session?

No, he's not looking at it at all.

So you're not going to see it until...?

Not until it's unveiled, no.

-Right.

-He's very disciplined about it, too.

Er, and then it just sort of happens. And he chats away

-and, my God, does he chat.

-Simon?

-Yeah.

-Really? You surprise me.

Yeah, extraordinary thing.

And you just sort of get... you arrive at it.

I'll tell you what,

my lousy, rotten character is being assassinated here.

THEY LAUGH

But, you know, something sort of emerges and, really,

what I'm always trying to do with all my pictures because I love it

when a painter gets it right

and somebody like van Dyck, or Velazquez, or Manet,

they just got it right.

And they got it right by doing one brush stroke

with just the right amount of paint, in exactly the right position, one.

And it just has all the character in the world.

And that's what, ultimately, I think makes a really wonderful painting.

And it's quite high pressure, but, my God, it's fun when it works.

And you're not after any kind of hyper-realism here are you,

-judging by this?

-No. If anybody wants to know,

wants to see the minutiae of what the surgeon has done to him,

I'm quite sure he's a big enough guy for them to be able to go up

and inspect his face in close quarters with a magnifying glass

but they're not going to get it from my portrait.

I want to show what scars I can see from here.

And how does that all sound to you, Simon? We're talking about you as if you're not here.

My life is an open book so it's fine by me.

And you said, when I talked to you at the beginning

about what you'd like to come out of this portrait, you wanted people

to look at it and think, "Here's a man who's happy,

-"who's looking forward, who..."

-Yeah.

-"..who's positive."

Yeah, you know, if it's possible,

it's to tell there is a sense of humour there.

-You know, I really don't want this to be a negative picture.

-Mmm.

It's got to be all about let's look forward,

look what life can be because it was a battle and it's been won, really.

PHOTOGRAPHERS SHOUT

Simon is launching his fourth and latest children's book

about a Welsh milkman and his horse called Nelson.

He's become used to his photo being taken,

but being painted by Nicky is a very different matter.

We laugh a lot

and she's told me what not to wear, what to wear.

She's told me what's going to be in there.

I'm not going to be smiling.

She's not going to have any teeth in it.

So she's given me my instructions, erm,

cos she's quite authoritative, so... But I'm used to that,

coming from a matriarchal family, where the women are scary.

Stay like that, except tilt slightly towards your left shoulder.

Your right shoulder, all right.

I knew I'd get there.

Sorry, I'm really not concentrating.

I love that. It's very dramatic,

the way you lunge towards the painting with your arm outstretched.

When you get into position of nervousness about a picture,

it starts to get more and more frantic.

Sometimes it's a bit like...

trying to rein in a wild horse, you know, suddenly you're losing

a bit of control and, oh, my God, it all gets rather nerve-racking.

Capturing the eyes can be the hardest part of a portrait,

particularly when they've been rebuilt as Simon's have.

When you first had your eyelids put on -

that's a really bizarre question, isn't it? -

when you blinked, did you feel you were going to tear them?

No, I didn't think about it.

They put skin in which just made it easier for my eyelids to connect.

-For your eyelids to connect?

-Yeah, they stopped me from going blind.

Used to put a lot of cream in my eyes to stop me going blind,

keep them moist.

They had to cut it eventually and split it.

-That's where the red dot comes from.

-Right.

Because I couldn't see to the left

so I'd miss all of that that was out there.

But when they put the eyelids on, they stitched them on

with big orange, I suppose it was like antiseptic or whatever it was,

to stop them becoming infected.

And your eyes never did get infected, then?

No, no, I mean, the surgeon saved my eyesight

and, forever, I'll be grateful.

Simon's portrait is different to anything Nicky's done before.

And portraits past offer little in the way of inspiration.

But at the Royal College of Surgeons in London,

there's a rare collection of unusual and moving portraits.

These are some paintings of quite exceptional quality,

were done by a man called Henry Tonks,

and they are of men

who were injured in the trenches

in the First World War.

They're extraordinary, aren't they?

I mean, some of these are

before the surgery and after.

And the surgery is completely pioneering,

filling holes in men's faces,

trying to reconstruct wounds, burns,

Do you know, what strikes me about looking at these

is that they're undoubtedly shocking,

some of these,

but they're also beautiful,

-aren't they?

-Oh, they're beautiful,

and they capture

the humanity of these men,

even in their extreme states.

You get some sense

of what they're feeling,

what they've been through,

their emotions and how

-they're dealing with it.

-Absolutely.

I was just doing a little bit of work, just to think about

portraits in the past of people's disfigurements

-because it's not something you associate with portraits.

-Not many.

I mean, this is a very well-known painting by Quentin Matsys,

what is it, early 1500s?

HE SIGHS

You know, what is going on there?

I mean, the belief was this was a piece of satire,

a very old ugly woman trying to look young and rather curvaceous.

-It's a condition.

-Paget's disease.

-Correct.

Paget's disease which is a bone deformity, isn't it?

What I love about it is that,

although she's not looking at us,

you get the sense of quite a proud,

defiant person, don't you?

You do. I'll tell you one that I've grown up with,

-this Ghirlandaio.

-Oh, yes.

Cos my grandpa had this on his wall and, as a child, I was always...

Well, I didn't really understand...

Why did my grandfather have this

chap with all the warts on his nose?

And I never really liked it.

It was only when I grew older

and had children of my own

that I began to see

what it's all about,

which, of course,

it's this unquestioning devotion

of the child

seeing past the warts on the nose,

not caring about any of that.

Absolutely, and the wonderful depth in the old man's face

of wonderful appreciation

of this admiring,

this unconditional positive regard.

It's beautiful.

Simon's recovery from his physical injuries was just the beginning.

The psychological scars went much deeper.

Your examination by the board has now been completed.

The board find that you are unfit for further military service.

That's the first time I can remember feeling really low,

at the point where, "My goodness, what have I got?"

And my physical side of my life, as far as taking part in sport,

being a very physical person, which I'd always been, was gone.

So I was going to have to use my brain

which scared the living heck out of me.

I never thought that I would ever have to make my living

using my brain. I was far happier just using the brawn.

They can't keep me in, simple as that.

I just want a job.

There's three million people want a job too, Simon.

Well, that'll be three million and one, then, won't it?

I didn't know where we were going to turn.

I didn't know.

Where do you go from that?

And the Army had been his life and, I mean,

he'd not only lost his friends. He was a great rugby player,

prop forward, and to nothing.

Absolutely. And to a village.

I didn't see any future.

I struggled and it's not like me. And I just didn't see that

I'd have a relationship again. Mine had broken up and gone.

I couldn't ever imagine anybody wanting to be with me,

the way I looked at that point in time,

and, you know, and I still had sores and it couldn't have smelt great

as well, you know, so it was...it was very hard to see the positives.

It probably helped me and made it easier for me to drink a lot.

He'd go down the club, which was a bone of contention with me.

I didn't like him going down there.

And I was appalled by it, absolutely appalled.

It was pretty awful.

What happened was when the operations stopped,

he had time to think, and then he thought about all his friends

that had died and he felt that he should have died with them,

that he shouldn't have lived.

And, you know, he'd come into me at two o'clock in the morning,

and he'd be crying and say, "Mam, you know, I shouldn't be here."

And you'd be fast asleep and you'd wake up and think,

"What is going on?" You know. It was a difficult time,

a very difficult time -

one I would never want to go back and visit again.

It was very hard to see the positives, erm...

I mean, what was your lowest moment, would you say?

Well, I almost took my life, I suppose.

I'm sensing you don't want me to say what you actually did.

Oh, I don't mind. I mean, I tried to cock a crossbow.

-So you basically tried to shoot yourself?

-Yeah.

-In the head with the crossbow?

-Yeah, with the crossbow, yeah.

And what stopped you?

Er, my tips weren't strong enough to pull it.

And when it ripped it out

it left blood pouring out of the tips of my fingers.

It was the pain that snapped me back into reality,

and I thought, "What an insult to all those incredible people

"that still do an incredible job."

-The people that kept you alive?

-Yeah, yeah, all of those people.

Simon turned a corner and began to rebuild his life

through sheer force of will but it wasn't easy.

I'm meeting psychologist Nichola Rumsey who specialises

in facial disfigurement to find out more about the battles he faced.

How difficult is it for someone who's had facial disfigurement,

who has facial scaring, in terms of recovering from that?

-Hmm.

-And relating to the outside world?

Well, the face is the prime way we communicate with others.

Now, I want you to go, "Ee-ee."

"Oo-oo."

If you have a change to your face,

you've got to deal with the reactions of other people to you

when you look different from the norm.

And then the other side of it is that the face is also

a very strong part of our identity,

so, you know, we get up in the morning,

we look at ourselves in the mirror,

we decide whether or not we're having a good or a bad day.

And if you look different, it doesn't feel like you and it takes quite

a long time to kind of incorporate that new look into your identity.

The thing that always strikes me about people that deal well

with a disfigurement is the amount of energy

they have to put into that coping process.

So, you've got to manage yourself and you've got to manage

the discomfort or the embarrassment that other people are going through.

So, you know, there have to come moments when you just want downtime

and you just want, you know,

to kind of drift into a nice, anonymous place.

If he does have moments, they're in the night.

They're in the dark.

Because sometimes he'll say he doesn't sleep,

and he'll go down and sleep on the settee.

I never question what it's about because I think I got

a pretty good idea that... Yes, I think that he...

he loses it sometimes, you know, he's not as positive.

I don't sleep terribly well any more.

-Why's that?

-I don't know. I do think too much.

I don't think back to the... the ship. That's stopped.

-Do you have nightmares about that?

-I used to. I used to.

I had PTSD for about 24 years.

-Post-traumatic stress?

-Disorder, yeah. I had that for about 24 years.

Gosh, that is a long time.

I didn't realise how disruptive it was until I was out of it.

It was like somebody cut a big elastic band off my chest.

I could breathe deeply.

I could suck in air and it felt good.

CHEERING

Oh, this referee is an absolute joke!

Though his injuries forced him to watch, rather than play, rugby,

Simon has never lost his love of the game...

..particularly his beloved Llanelli Scarlets.

He seems to just want to enjoy what he's got now

and the person he is now.

Oh, learn about the game, referee, for God's sake!

It makes him really good company. He's good fun.

CROWD BOOS

SIMON LAUGHS

Boo!

It's like that's going to make a huge amount of difference to him.

'I feel we're friends.'

I'd like to think that if he wrote a book about the experience,

he might feel that he could say that we were friends now.

CHEERING

'Whether that'll make it easier or more difficult, I don't know,'

but I think being able to call him a friend

just might add a little spark, a little twinkle,

or something, I hope.

There is something that is...it's sort of...

Oh, it's just maddening.

It's just one of those little tiny things.

I think it's got to do with your top lip.

My explosion of a moustache?

I wonder if you'd have had one if none of this had happened.

Well, at that time, everybody in the Welsh Guards had a moustache,

even the women...you know, so...

SHE LAUGHS

What do you actually want to achieve now?

Er, I... I suppose I want to do more.

-Of what?

-Everything.

I have no desire to slow down or stop.

As Del Boy said, you know, "Sleeping is for wimps."

Would you say you're a very restless person?

I'm restless about doing things, about achievement.

I'm very ambitious and I see nothing wrong with that ambition.

And where does your ambition take you?

Er, I'll tell you when I'm 85, that's fine.

I wonder, observing you, what drives you. You travel so much.

I mean, how many businesses have you got going at the moment?

-I'm not sure.

-It's ten or twelve.

-Something like that, yeah.

I'm involved in a lot of things.

APPLAUSE

The speaking is probably the most productive at the moment.

When you're going out to talk to a group of people,

to a group of schoolchildren, you appear very confident

and you seem to have them in the small of your hand.

You are the guys that are going to make the difference tomorrow.

But do you have to work yourself up to that?

I have to think about what I'm doing, yeah.

I think the reason is for me... It's because it matters.

When I got injured, the future looked very bleak...

'I don't like speaking to people and being trite.

'I don't like speaking to people without having relevance

'and meaning to what I'm saying and...to them.'

Don't let anybody dictate to you. Don't let anybody smash your dreams.

Don't let anybody turn round and say to you, "You're not worthy."

WHISTLING

That was very inspired. SHE SOBS

Thank you.

But everything is possible, you know that, don't you?

Over the years, Simon has raised millions for different charities.

Please accept this with our very grateful thanks

for all the support...

He's still a champion for causes close to his heart,

like the Falklands Veterans Foundation.

Simon, for me, is the epitome of triumph against tragedy

and somebody that's kind of almost risen from the ashes,

reinvented himself and is now making a huge difference to a lot of people.

I just can't settle for not trying something new.

I can't settle for second best.

I can't settle for not achieving. I like achieving.

I like feeling, "Wow, look what we've done."

The painting is taking shape,

but Nicky still wants to add something

that offers a clue to Simon's story.

So tell me what there is left of your army kit?

I mean, I've got my medals, but apart from that,

I don't really have anything.

The thing is, I was thinking it might be nice

to have some sort of reference

to your days in the... in the Welsh Guards.

After all, this all started because of it.

Oh, yeah.

I don't know if there is anything we could get hold of?

There's always a cap badge. You can get hold of a cap badge,

that's fairly easy.

I don't want anything in an enormous amount of detail,

but just a reference.

That's all. It's going to be fairly simple.

Well, I suppose it matches the name, then, doesn't it?

Simple Simon.

Nicky decides to feature Simon's military medals

and his OBE in the portrait.

I'd just like you to hold them. What's easiest, like that?

Is that the easiest way of holding them?

-That's the easiest way, yeah.

-That's the most natural. Perfect.

I don't want you to be going, "Look at these."

I just want them to be there.

I want that flash of red.

The one from the OBE?

Yeah. When did you get that?

When she gave it to me.

Yeah, when was it?

-Er, '90-something or other.

-And it was her, was it?

-Yeah.

-Not Prince Charles? Did she say anything?

"Here you go. Don't nick anything on the way out."

MUSIC OVER SPEECH

So how long did she stand for you?

I had three hours, and then in the middle

she gave me an extra 20 minutes because she was only going to lunch.

I never thought I'd get to paint her, to be honest,

and I wasn't 100% certain whether it would be a good idea, you know.

Everybody wants her to look 25, the way she did, and she doesn't.

She looks pretty damn good for her age, I have to say.

But she's great, though.

No, she's lovely. She's got the most wonderful giggle.

-Has she?

-Mmm. And actually, that helped,

that really helps with trying to, um, sort of relax.

Did you have a good conversation with her?

Yes, I did, but it's just so frustrating painting

because I just wanted to put my brushes down and say,

"Look, can we just have a chat?"

It's the day of Simon's last sitting,

and I can't wait to see how The People's Portrait has come on.

The thing I notice that has changed -

and it does feel strange, Simon, talking to you,

you're standing right next to your portrait, but you can't see it -

is that Simon's expression has changed a lot.

You know, I don't really have any idea

how these things are going to be, any more than the sitter does.

It's just something that emerges.

I'm going to just profess complete ignorance about it

because I've taken him as I find him

and, you know, at times he's interesting,

at times he's very funny and at times he's a complete idiot.

Don't mind us.

Charming, isn't it?

And it's really fun, the whole thing.

I never know what it's going to be like. I never know what sort of mood he's going to be in.

-I've always come in in a bad mood, haven't I?

-Yes, we noticed that.

-Always.

-Yeah. Do you think you're going to feel slightly nervous

when this is unveiled, Simon?

Yeah, you mean it's... I suppose being the centre of attention,

but for ever.

With the deadline to deliver the portrait to the gallery

fast approaching, Nicky applies the finishing touches.

Military people are very particular.

Um, if something isn't quite right, they're going to let you know.

Putting his cap in just as a symbol

of what he was which brought him to the point of being, um,

a national treasure. I don't want it to feature very strongly.

I just want it to be there. That's part of the story.

It's a soldier's beret.

It seems to have been through quite a few stages.

He looked more jovial at one stage,

and then somehow that's gone.

I think he looks a little more thoughtful now,

but, then again, he has had a very turbulent life

and he is a thoughtful chap underneath,

so I'm not unhappy about it.

Watch it, turn it around, straight down.

The time has come for Simon's portrait to be packed up

and moved to its new home at the National Portrait Gallery.

It's unnerving, actually,

because I start to have doubts about whether I've completely finished it.

It's out of Nicky's hands now, whether she likes it or not.

That's a lesson in how to pack a painting, isn't it?

The portrait will now be judged not once, but twice,

to see if it's worthy of a place

among the gallery's many masterpieces.

Simon Weston was chosen from 12 nominees.

The first people to judge are the curators.

She's given it some formality with the chair

and the sort of scale and positioning.

Led by director Sandy Nairne,

they're the experts who run the gallery.

-In terms of colour, it's all very subdued...

-It is.

..even a little bit sombre, but then the eye's drawn to the medals

which adds this colour accent and, of course,

those colours symbolise not only the patriotism

-but, in this case, heroism.

-Yes.

-Being attached to the medals.

It's really interesting,

the way that she's put the upturned beret on the chair.

It seems to suggest all the men that didn't return.

I think it's a really important and moving addition

to the collection, actually, one we should be really proud of.

In which case, is everybody happy to recommend this to the trustees,

that this would go forward for their consideration?

The trustees will have the final say,

to approve or reject the portrait.

Great, fantastic, thank you.

As his portrait is being judged, Simon is in hospital.

32 years since he was injured,

and after more than 80 operations, he needs yet more surgery,

this time on his eyes,

which have become sore and painful.

We took stem cells from his abdomen

and processed them

and transferred them into the lower eyelid and around the nose

to actually...to loosen up the scar tissue,

to reverse the fibrosis,

to allow the eyelid to move upwards so it can close properly.

MONITOR BEEPS

PHONE RINGS

Good afternoon, National Portrait Gallery.

The gallery's trustees are discussing the portrait

behind closed doors.

They're all in there, gathered around Nicky's painting.

I can't hear what they're saying.

Well, Sandy is getting very animated about it all.

They're all standing there with their arms folded,

peering intently at Simon...

..and if they don't like it,

it's not going up on the wall.

OK, that's good.

There's a bit of head nodding. A few people are smiling.

That looks good.

Well, they're clearly not going to say anything to me until their deliberations are finished.

It'll take about between six weeks to about six months

for us to see an effect, but it does work.

Well, they're all talking very earnestly upstairs.

A few people are smiling, which looks good.

-Do you reckon?

-Well...

I mean, Sandy is standing in front of it

and declaiming to the assembled trustees,

no doubt about the merits of your portrait.

I thought my last exam was going to be my driving test.

-Is that what it feels like?

-That was a very long time ago.

'The meeting is finally over,

'and Sandy Nairne has the trustees' verdict.'

Sandy, hello.

-Good to see you.

-How are you?

I'm fine. It was good.

-The trustees loved it.

-Did they?

And they just had a very good time with the portrait,

and they were incredibly positive.

It was very, very nice. They had two goes.

They were in the studio and then they were back in the boardroom

for their formal decision,

but they were entirely positive and totally unanimous.

-You're going to take it?

-We're taking it. Thank you very much.

-There you go!

-It was really good.

There's something about portraiture

that is just so special

and I think this particular work demonstrates why painting, I think,

is just so 21st century. It's all the subtlety,

all the complexity of a man who's a hero.

There's quite a strong shadow behind him on the wall

and nothing else,

so it seemed to me that actually,

that emptiness stood for some of the other people who died.

It had all those kind of formal touches

of those traditional war portraits with the medals,

with the cap on the chair,

and yet he, himself, is very informal,

the unbuttoned shirt. He was the person he had become,

rather than the victim that perhaps we first saw him as.

The big day has arrived.

The People's Portrait is about to be unveiled to the nation.

'Slightly nervous.

'This is your peers, these are the people that you live with,

'you grew up with, and they voted,

'and perhaps that's why it's more nerve-racking than anything else.'

Perfecto.

It's time to head for the gallery with his wife, Lucy.

Proper spring morning.

I think I've got butterflies for you today.

-Hello, hello, hello.

-Hello, darling, are you all right? Thank you.

Among the guests for the unveiling are Simon's three children

and, of course, his mother, Pauline.

I'm quite excited really, you know.

I'd like her work

when she did the two Princes and I thought it was excellent

and so I'm really keen to see it.

I'm also keen to see Simon's expression

when he sees it for the first time.

I'm terribly nervous about it, I can tell you,

but I know he's going to tell me what he thinks.

Right, here we go.

'Historian Dan Snow, who nominated Simon for the People's Portrait,

'is unveiling it with me.'

Well, look, I just want to say it's been

a thrill really to watch this portrait develop.

It's been, what, eight sittings, I think, and about three months.

Hmm.

This is going to be quite a moment.

I don't think there could be a better choice. It's the first time

that people have voted for a portrait to hang here.

It's the people's choice for a people's hero.

Let's try and get it off. I think Fiona invited me because I'm tall -

I can help to get this off.

Here we go.

Da-da!

APPLAUSE

Simon, come and look.

What do you think?

Um, I think it's fantastic. I think it's fantastic.

I'm slightly fatter in there than I am now, so...

LAUGHTER

No, I think it's wonderful. It's wonderful, thank you.

-Do you really like it?

-I do. Thank you so much.

I think that's the first time

I've seen you slightly lost for words.

Yeah, but thank you so much.

Well, it's been a pleasure. It really has. It was enormous fun.

Look, you're opposite Margaret Thatcher.

Yeah, Margaret Thatcher,

without which none of this would have happened at all.

Mum, what do you think?

Er, he's looking quite serious I think, or he's asking questions.

-Is that what it is?

-I think it's fantastic.

Yeah?

I'm surprised you managed to get him to stand still for so long.

THEY CHUCKLE

It really sums him up.

-It really sums him up?

-Yeah.

-You can't get a higher accolade than that, Nicky, can you?

-No.

Here for prosperity.

But, yeah, no, I'm thrilled.

I really am thrilled.

It's... It's wonderful. It's... Yeah.

I never thought that 32 years ago this would happen.

As Simon's guests come forward to admire the portrait,

perhaps it's a moment to reflect.

It was never Simon's choice to stand out, to look different,

to be in any way historic.

Are you pleased?

Hmm, yeah, very.

His injuries did that for him

but how Simon responded is surely what made him

the people's choice for the first People's Portrait of our times.