Boy, 11, beats Rubik's Cube world record

A schoolboy set a new world record after making a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II using 3,000 Rubik's Cubes.

Henil pieced together the mosaic in under an hour in front of his family and friends at Harwich and Dovercourt High School, where he is in Year 7.

He beat his own personal record set earlier this year when he created a portrait of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"I feel very proud of myself," the 11-year-old said after the world record was confirmed by a Golden Book of World Records adjudicator.

His mum, Priyanka, 35, said Henil first started playing with Rubik's Cubes when he was five years old and later started watching YouTube tutorials in his free time to try to learn to solve them.

She said she had spent about £3,000 to make sure her son had enough of the three-dimensional puzzles to take on his latest challenge.

The family removed their living room furniture earlier this year to give Henil enough space to make a portrait of former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak using the colourful cubes.

Asked who he would depict next, Henil said: "I have no plans at the moment but I will make some more."

Head teacher Kate Finch said Henil was a "very, very special student".

"We are so proud and privileged to have Henil's family and friends with us to witness this attempt and we are so happy the school is where Henil has decided to make this attempt," she said in a school hall filled with the student's classmates.

Mrs Finch presented a bunch of flowers to Henil's grandparents who had travelled from east London to the school in Essex to watch their grandson's world record attempt.

According to the Golden Book of World Records, the record for the largest mosaic made from Rubik's Cubes was previously set by a seven-year-old from India in 2023, using 1,040 cubes.

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