Fiona Bruce

A man who paid a fraction of that could make a life-changing amount if the picture of Clemintine Churchill is proved to have been painted by the revered wartime Prime Minister

An amateur art collector who claims he has found a lost painting by Sir Winston Churchill is told it could be worth more than £600,000.

Barry James appears on the BBC1 show Fake Or Fortune tonight (MON) with his intriguing picture. He tells presenter Fiona Bruce and international art dealer Phil Mould that he picked it up for just £140 in an antiques market in Ardingly near Gatwick, three years ago because he liked ‘the colours and composition’.

But it was only later when it took it out of the frame that he found a mysterious inscription on the back which read: “This painting of Mrs Winston Churchill on wall of sunken garden at Hurstmonceux (CORR) Castle, Sussex, by The Right Hon. Winston S Churchill. June 1916.”

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It shows what is thought to be Sir Winston’s wife Clementine perched on a wall reading a book in the pink flowered gardens of the castle. Barry, from West Sussex, hopes the BBC series, returning for its 13th run, can validate it.

In the BBC show, shocked Barry is told that paintings by Churchill – who was British PM from 1940-45 and 1951-55 – can fetch millions of pounds. In 2021 Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie sold one – The Tower Of The Koutoubia Mosque, painted in Marrakesh during WWII – for a record £7million.

And Barry is informed that if his picture is found to be an original then at auction it could make more than £600,000. The TV duo embark on a search to find out if the artist really was war leader Churchill. Records show how he took up painting in 1915 – in water colours to begin with and later in oils – after he had completed his military service during WW1 and narrowly escaped death.

He looked on his new hobby as something that took him away from the stress of his high powered life and it became a source of relaxation. Fiona, 61, delves into a book written by his friend Violet Bonham Carter called Winston Churchill As I Knew Him, in which she mentions that the politician stayed at the castle with his paints and brushes.

The author even writes that he was there as a guest in 1916 – but she mentions August rather than June. Undeterred, Fiona visits the castle to locate the exact spot where Clementine would have sat on the wall in the garden to be painted.

Meanwhile art dealer Phil does some digging to check that it is not stolen – and gets the all clear. A further mystery is uncovered when the artwork is x-rayed and another painting is discovered underneath. Experts believe it looks like a painting of a castle – possibly the very one where Winston and his wife stayed.

This news is not unwelcome as the statesman was well-known for re-using canvases. But some doubt is thrown into the mix when it is discovered that the handwriting on the back is not Churchill’s but that of Conservative politician Colonel Claude Lowther, who bought Herstmonceux and restored it – and invited his friend to stay there in 1916.

Barry, who is married and is a carer with a disabled son, admits: “If the painting is real, I’d probably end up reluctantly selling it, obviously for the family. We have always wanted to go to Niagara Falls. Our son is disabled and I think he’d enjoy something like that.” Viewers can find out if the painting is real on the new series of Fake Or Fortune, tonight at 9pm.

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Antiques Roadshow expert Joanna Hardy was left gobsmacked as she shared the true value of a guest’s family heirloom – and even admitted that the item had made her ‘tingle’

An Antiques Roadshow expert was left astonied as she revealed the astonishing value of a guest’s treasured family heirloom.

The beloved BBC show rolled out another episode on Sunday (May 18) with Fiona Bruce once again steering the ship. This week, the team set up camp at the majestic Beaumaris Castle on the Isle of Anglesey, North Wales.

Eager individuals flocked to flaunt their cherished items to the Antiques Roadshow connoisseurs for appraisal. But the atmosphere intensified when expert Joanna Hardy stumbled upon a simply “extraordinary” bracelet.

Basking in the sunlight, Joanna exclaimed: “This bracelet is just glistening in the sun here,” and marvelled at its appearance with “And we’ve got the gold nuggets which is as if they’d come out of the ground. I mean they just look extraordinary.”

The owner of the bracelet recounted its history, saying: “This was a bracelet that my grandfather gave to my grandmother.”, reports Edinburgh Live.

She continued with tales of her grandfather’s time working at the Frontino mines in Segovia, Colombia during the ’30s and ’40s as an engineer, stating: “And my grandfather worked in Segovia, in Colombia in the Frontino mines in the ’30s and ’40s.

“He was an engineer so I don’t believe he mined those from hand, but I think he must have got those from there.”

Joanna discussed the jewellery’s avant-garde style for its era: “It would have been ahead of its time for the ’30s. If we think about ’30s jewellery and the Art Deco jewellery and its diamonds and it’s all very geometric.”

The guest had also brought along photographs of her grandparents from their time in Colombia. Further enamoured by the piece, Joanna commented: “It’s just got that raw energy about it.”

The guest expressed her affection for the heirloom, revealing: “I love it when I wear it.”

Regarding the item’s value, Joanna revealed: “Gold has never been higher than today, so at auction I think you’d be looking at around £5,000.”

Instantly, the guest was taken aback and exclaimed: “Wow!” Overwhelmed and struggling to articulate her surprise, she continued: “Okay, wow… that’s quite a lot more than..”

She then expressed her astonishment further by saying, “Oh everybody says that I know. It’s really a lot more than I thought. Thank you very much!” Joanna, delighted by the guest’s response, shared in the excitement: “Oh you’ve made me tingle as well!”.

Fiona Bruce is a household name thanks to her role as an Antiques Roadshow presenter

Fiona Bruce, a household name in the world of television, owes her fame to her extensive broadcasting career. The 60-year-old presenter has been a fixture on our screens for decades, starting her journey with the BBC as a journalist in the 1990s before moving up the ranks to present the BBC News at Six and BBC News at Ten.

While Fiona Bruce is a familiar face on the BBC thanks to Antiques Roadshow and Question Time, what do we know about her life away from the camera?

Fiona’s home life with her husband of 30 years and children

Fiona is married to businessman Nigel Sharrocks, who serves as the non-executive chairman at advertising firm Digital Cinema Media, which supplies cinema advertisements to Cineworld, Odeon, and Vue cinema chains.

He previously held the position of Managing Director of Warner Bros Pictures UK in the 2000s. The couple exchanged vows in July 1994, reportedly first meeting when they both worked at an advertising agency.

The couple share two children, Sam, 27, and Mia, 23. Discussing the challenges of balancing motherhood with her career, Fiona once admitted to Good Housekeeping: “Did I spend enough time with my children? I think scratch the surface of any working woman and she will always think, ‘Probably not.’

“I don’t think there’s such a thing as quality time with your children,” she added. “I think it’s quantity. But there’s never been any question that they take precedence over everything in my life, and always have done.”

In another chat, Fiona disclosed that she became a “light drinker” after having children. “I’ve turned up for work with a hangover before, but not since the kids came along,” she admitted to Woman & Home in 2024 ahead of celebrating her 60th birthday party.

“I’m a very light drinker these days. If I’m out, I don’t particularly want to go to bed early, and if I have more than a couple of glasses of wine, I get really sleepy, and I don’t want to be sleepy because I want to enjoy the night!”

Fiona’s ‘life-changing’ passion

Having taken the helm of Antiques Roadshow in 2008, Fiona’s fascination with all things vintage has grown into a ‘life-changing’ hobby.

During a sincere conversation with The Sunday Post in 2019, Fiona shared insights into how the series has influenced her personal life. “I know more than when I started, that’s for sure, and I’m a hugely enthusiastic antiques buyer, auction bidder and junk shop devotee,” she disclosed.

“It sounds a bit dramatic, but it has changed my life. I’m not interested in shopping for modern things. It started as an interest on the programme and now it’s a passion,” she added.

Fiona’s hobby away from TV

When the cameras stop rolling, Fiona digs into her gardening, where her affection for plants and veggies comes to life.

In a warm-hearted segment on The One Show in 2022, former host Jermaine Jenas probed her about this off-screen pastime, prompting Fiona to playfully admit: “Not a very talented one though!”

You can catch up on Antiques Roadshow on BBC iPlayer