AN Antiques Roadshow guest brought in a cartoon drawing of Paul McCartney, made by their father, hoping for a valuation. Little did they know, they would be left stunned by its astonishing value.
Expert, Hilary Kay, greeted the guest on the BBC show with a warm welcome, excited to hear more about her item.
The cartoon’s owner said that her father was a talented cartoonist who also worked at Heathrow Airport.
The guest explained: “This is a cartoon my dad drew that relates to a very specific event that I believe happened in January 1984.”
She continued: “And the story is that Sir Paul McCartney and his wife, Linda – at the time, came through Heathrow Airport on the way from Barbados, and in Barbados they had been caught with drugs with cannabis.
“So when they came back into Heathrow, my dad’s team received a tip-off essentially saying they thought they were still carrying cannabis.
“And so my dad’s team detained them. They were interviewed.
“And while supposedly in the interview room, my dad drew this cartoon about what was happening.”
“You’re not serious!” exclaimed Hilary, her surprise evident. She added, “So this is absolutely contemporaneous.”
“He was in one room being interviewed your dad was [drawing].”
Continuing with her enthusiasm, Hilary excitedly remarked, “And turning it over, this is really nice because it looks just like a piece of HMRC note paper, doesn’t it? It even has the reference there!”
When it came to the valuation, Hilary explained: “The market values it highly because it’s a very interesting incident in Paul McCartney’s career and it’s too good a story.
“I think we’re talking about least £2,000 to £3,000.”
The guest was left stunned.
“Oh my goodness, no!” she exclaimed.