Memorial to show Queen Elizabeth II as young woman

Plans for a memorial to Queen Elizabeth II, featuring a statue of the monarch during her early reign, have been revealed on what would have been the late Queen's 100th birthday.

The tribute will overlook The Mall in central London, near the entrance of the new St James's Park memorial.

The bronze sculpture, by Martin Jennings, will take inspiration from the 1955 portrait of the Queen at age 28 by Italian artist Pietro Annigon.

The Queen's former private secretary, Lord Janvrin, the chairman of the Queen Elizabeth memorial committee, described it as a "lovely, iconic image".

The work will be dressed in the robes of the Order of the Garter, and 20 meters behind the structure a smaller statue of Prince Philip, the late Duke of Edinburgh, will stand.

He will be represented in his naval uniform and at a similar age.

Lord Janvrin added: "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."

The Queen's figure will stand almost 10ft tall (3m) on a 14ft (4.3m) plinth whilst the statue of the duke will be be 7ft 6in (2.3m) tall on a 4ft 9in (1.5m) plinth.

A bust of a more mature version of the Queen will be created by the artist Karen Newman and displayed in the opposite side of the park.

The royal family are set to visit maquettes of the statues and a scale model of the wider memorial at the British Museum on Tuesday.

The memorial is expected to be completed in 2028.

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