Norman Hepple was renowned for his portraits of the British Royal Family, though the artist was an accomplished engraver and sculptor. The son of the painter Robert Watkin Hepple and the nephew of animal painter Wilson Hepple, Norman was born in London in 1908. He received his artistic training at the Goldsmiths’ College of Art and developed his technique further at the Royal Academy Schools following recognition of a scholarship to study engraving. Hepple’s professional career first began in the early 1930s, whereby the artist received commission to illustrate the publications of novelist Mary Webb.

During the Second World War Hepple actively contributed to the Firemen Artists’ Committee and the War Artists’ Advisory Committee. By 1943 the latter had commissioned the artist to produce a series of drawings in response to the war. The popularity of the artist’s work was such that Hepple’s paintings and drawings toured America as part of an exhibition curated by the Firemen Artists’ Committee. Following the war Hepple resumed his professional career, through which he received commission to capture the likeness of Queen Elizebth II on three occasions. One such portrait was adapted for use on banknotes issued on the island of Jersey in 1978.