National Memorial to Queen Elizabeth II Unveiled on Her 100th Birthday
The final design for the national memorial honouring Queen Elizabeth II has been revealed, coinciding with what would have been the late monarch's 100th birthday. The central London tribute will feature a striking bronze statue of the Queen as a young woman in her Garter robes, directly inspired by a famous 1955 portrait by Italian artist Pietro Annigoni.
Statue Design and Placement
The memorial, designed by renowned architect Lord Foster, will be situated at Marlborough Gate overlooking The Mall. The Queen's statue will stand 7.3 metres high, with the three-metre figure positioned on a 4.3-metre plinth in the newly created Queen Elizabeth II Place. A "few paces behind" the Queen, maintaining his customary position, will be a smaller companion statue of Prince Philip, the late Duke of Edinburgh.
Prince Philip will be depicted at a similar age to the Queen, wearing his Admiral-of-the-Fleet uniform. His statue will measure 3.8 metres in total height, with a 2.3-metre figure on a 1.5-metre plinth, positioned approximately 20 metres behind the Queen's statue within St James's Park.
Artistic Inspiration and Details
Sculptor Martin Jennings has drawn direct inspiration from Annigoni's celebrated 1955 portrait, which captured the Queen at age 28, just a few years into her reign. The Renaissance-style painting shows the young monarch draped in her weighty Garter robes, composed and gazing into the distance. Annigoni reportedly incorporated the Queen's childhood memory of watching people and cars from her palace window into the portrait's contemplative mood.
Lord Janvrin, chairman of the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee and the Queen's former private secretary, explained the design choices: "We thought it was very important that the statue of the Queen, our head of state, was on the ceremonial route in her own right. She will be depicted standing, on her own. But Prince Philip was such an important part – they worked as a team – of the realm that we've decided that he should be a few paces behind the Queen – a position he was accustomed to."
Additional Memorial Features
The memorial complex will include several other significant elements. At the Birdcage Walk end of the park, artist Karen Newman will create a bust of the Queen in her later years, likely depicting her in her fifties or sixties. The memorial will also feature a family of gardens with meandering paths throughout St James's Park.
A particularly innovative feature will be a new translucent, glass "unity bridge" inspired by the late Queen's wedding tiara, replacing the current Blue Bridge. This steel and glass structure, likely to be named the Queen Elizabeth Bridge, incorporates the latest technologies while maintaining a delicate appearance that complements the park's natural beauty.
Royal Review and Additional Projects
King Charles III, Queen Camilla, and other members of the royal family will view maquettes of the planned statues and a scale model of the wider memorial during a visit to the British Museum. The figure of Prince Philip shows the duke standing with both arms behind his back, as he often did during public appearances.
The memorial project is part of three initiatives launched in honour of the Queen. The newly established Queen Elizabeth Trust is an independent grant-making charity that will work with communities across the UK to transform community spaces and bring local people together across generations. This initiative was inspired by the late Queen's Christmas broadcasts, in which she frequently emphasised the importance of neighbours and local communities.
Digital Memorial Archive
A comprehensive Digital Memorial aims to create a "living archive" of public memories of the Queen. This project will digitise the Court Circular – the daily record of official royal engagements – and map key events from the Queen's reign. The public will be invited to contribute personal recollections via the website Queenelizabeth.com, which was donated by luxury cruise line Cunard after previously being used for the Queen Elizabeth ship.
Joe Garner, a committee member specialising in the digital memorial, expressed enthusiasm for the project's potential: "We could create the most phenomenal archive." The site already features recorded memories from celebrities including Olympian Tom Daley and artist Dame Tracey Emin, with plans to expand to include cinefilm and photographs from the public, eventually mapping memories from around the globe.
Completion and Legacy
The physical memorial is expected to be completed in 2028. Lord Janvrin emphasised the broader purpose behind all memorial projects: "We were very keen to try to convey through all the memorial projects to get across a sense of the Queen's values, her sense of public service, her sense of devoting herself to us and to serving the nation."
Sir Damon Buffini, chairman of the new Queen Elizabeth Trust, praised the Queen's "absolute belief in community" and expressed hope that millions of people would benefit from the trust's work regenerating community spaces. The trust aims to begin its first project by the end of this year, continuing the Queen's legacy of service and community engagement for generations to come.
