An 86-year-old former model who posed naked for artists in a career spanning more than three decades is donating her body to science.

Yvonne Vinall regularly undressed for paintings, "wearing nothing but a choker and a smile", even into her 70s.

A portrait of her sits in Clarence House, home to the late Queen Mother, a statue of her sits on London's South Bank and she has written a book, naturally, titled Naked Truth as part of a glittering career.

Widowed Mrs Vinall, of Goods Station Road, Tunbridge Wells, said: "I did a lot of work over the years, and towards the end much of it was private, where I wouldn't get paid in cash but I'd get the painting itself, which was much more valuable.

"Artists don't look for superficial beauty - they might focus on a particular body part such as a hand or a foot.

"Ultimately though, it's in the eye of the beholder, as they say.

"Eventually I became a bit bored of doing the same thing and I wanted to quit while I was on top."

"When they get me on the slab, they will have an awful lot to work with" - Yvonne Vinall

In future, her body is going to be less the subject of art, and more of education, after she received a certificate confirming her donation to the London Anatomy Office.

She said: "How on Earth are students going to learn and pass their exams unless they have a human body to look at?

"I might still feel like a mischievous 18-year-old inside, but I have a pacemaker, I've had my cataracts done, and I have false knees, hips and shoulders.

"When they get me on the slab, they will have an awful lot to work with."

Kings College London says anyone older than 17 can donate their body, and while there is no upper age limit, there is no guarantee a donation will be accepted.

A number of considerations need to be made, including the cause of death itself, which could make the body unsuitable for examination.

On why more donations aren't made, Mrs Vinall added: "I think people are frightened of talking about death and scared of dying itself.

"I'm not at all scared, although all my friends say God will probably keep me down here for as long as possible."

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