Sunday, March 29, 2009

New Statue At The Mall, Near Buckingham Palace

Back in February of this year Prince Charles unveiled the new addition to the statues that are currently standing in the Mall, near Buckingham Palace. The statues is of her late grandmother, the Queen Mother, who had passed away back in 2002 at the age of 101.

Sculpted by Philip Jackson, the Queen Mother's likeness is presented during her younger years and who is wearing the formal Garter robes. This was to match the existing statue of her late husband King George VI, which depicts him around the same age. Jackson said that he did this so that no one would mistaken her as King George's mother.

In addition to the bronze statue, there are also bronze relief panels, designed by Paul Day, that depict scenes from the Queen Mother's life. According to the BBC, these panels will include:

"... one of her with families in the East End of London after the Blitz, another with her congratulating a winning jockey at a race meeting and another of her sitting with her beloved corgis at the Castle of Mey in Scotland."

So, when you visit the Mall and Buckingham Palace, make sure that you visit the Queen Victoria Memorial that stands right outside of the palace gates. But also take a minute to visit the new memorial statue of the Queen Mother as well as the statue of King George the VI who stands above and behind her.



References:
Relph, Daniela. 2009. "A New View of the Queen Mother." BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7907871.stm

(NA). 2009. "Prince Hails Queen Mother Tribute." BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7906986.stm

No comments: