IMPERIAL eagles captured from Napoleon’s forces have been recreated to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo – and a Worcestershire man has been at the forefront of the project.

Hare and Humphreys, a London-based firm specialising in the interior decoration, conservation and restoration of historic buildings, used a new state-of-the-art 3D scanner to create exact copies of the originals before gilding them in 23.5 carat gold leaf at its workshops.

Peter Hare, of Pirton, Worcestershire, who is managing director of the firm, was given the honour of presenting one of the eagles to HRH the Princess Royal.

He said: “It was a very special moment and a great feeling because we had put such a huge amount of research and development into recreating the eagles.

“The project is for tremendously exciting causes and it was a real honour to present one of the eagles to Princess Anne.”

One hundred bespoke replicas are now being created and will be sold to raise money for The New Waterloo Dispatch 2015, an ambitious ceremonial interpretation of the Battle of Waterloo, and The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Museum in Edinburgh where the captured enemy standards can be seen.

Gilded bronze eagles were issued to French regiments by Napoleon and fixed to the top of the poles carrying the emperor’s standard. But their seizure by the British Army came to symbolise the victory in 1815, which is being commemorated this year as part of the bi-centenary anniversary.

Mr Hare is no stranger to meeting members of the royal family.

His firm was awarded a royal warrant for helping to restore Windsor Castle after the 1992 fire and has also completed high-profile projects at St Paul’s Cathedral and Gloriana, the royal barge.

The businessman, who moved to Worcestershire with his family in 2013, met Prince Charles in June this year and also had regular meetings with Princess Diana in the past.

To buy a limited edition replica eagle visit nam.ac.uk/waterloo200