There has been no confirmation from street artist Banksy that a piece of art that popped up in Royal Wootton Bassett is his. 

This means that the tribute to the queen that appeared near a canal in the royal market town featuring Banksy's famous 'Balloon Girl' with Queen Elizabeth's cypher is almost certainly an imitation and not the real thing. 

Dog walkers first spotted the painting on Sunday morning, the day before Her Majesty's funeral, and speculated that Bristol's notorious graffiti artist might have done it. 

But many pointed out that Banky's own political affiliations meant that he wouldn't have left such an earnest tribute to the queen, while others pointed to the quality of the work and the positioning of the stencil as evidence it wasn't his. 

It seems that everyone who doubted this might be a legitimate Banksy was right to do so as he usually claims his artworks by posting them on his own Instagram page, but there has been no such post or confirmation about this. 

His last post on the platform was in December 2021 and was about the toppling of the Edward Colston statue in Bristol.

But perhaps the situation is best summed up by the words of one local who said: "Regardless of if it’s genuine Banksy or not, I think it’s a beautiful tribute to the town."