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Renowned British sculptor Martin Jennings has been chosen to design the official statue of Queen Elizabeth II for a new national memorial in London, a project that will honour the country\u2019s longest-reigning monarch. Jennings, celebrated for his statues of cultural and historical figures such as George Orwell, Philip Larkin and Mary Seacole, said he was \u201cabsolutely thrilled\u201d to have been invited to take on what he described as a \u201cterrific commission.\u201d
The memorial, to be known as Queen Elizabeth II Place, will be located at Marlborough Gate in St James\u2019s Park, close to Buckingham Palace. It is expected to provide the public with a permanent site to commemorate the Queen, who died in 2022 after 70 years on the throne. The project will also include a new Prince Philip Gate at Birdcage Walk, gardens, meandering pathways, and a striking glass \u201cunity bridge\u201d designed by acclaimed architect Lord Norman Foster, best known for The Gherkin.
Speaking to Sky News, Jennings said he wanted the Queen\u2019s statue to reflect her \u201cdignity, grace, and constancy,\u201d while also serving as \u201can object of delight for people.\u201d He added: \u201cI don\u2019t want it to be too grave. It needs grandeur and panache to suit its site, but also an element of joy. She was so constant in her service that those qualities of restraint and dignity are very much at the forefront of my mind.\u201d
While the exact design is yet to be finalised, Jennings suggested the statue will likely follow his usual process of being first sculpted in clay before being cast in bronze. However, he emphasised that at this stage he intends to \u201cdo a lot of listening\u201d to stakeholders before making decisions about how to depict the late Queen, including which period of her life will be represented.
The memorial is expected to attract \u201cconsiderable interest\u201d from the Royal Family, Jennings said, with King Charles III particularly invested in ensuring his mother is represented appropriately. \u201cI hope it will be something that both they and the public are proud of,\u201d the sculptor remarked.
The project, which is scheduled to be unveiled in 2026 to mark what would have been the late Queen\u2019s 100th birthday year, has a provisional construction budget estimated between \u00a323m and \u00a346m excluding VAT. A dedicated committee will oversee the design process, ensuring that the final memorial reflects both the Queen\u2019s extraordinary life and her enduring role in British history.
Jennings, 68, has previously created a bust of the Queen Mother housed in St Paul\u2019s Cathedral and was commissioned to design the first crowned coinage portrait of King Charles. His reputation as one of the country\u2019s leading sculptors was cemented through works such as the Women of Steel in Sheffield and the statue of George Orwell outside BBC Broadcasting House.
With its combination of architectural innovation and artistic vision, Queen Elizabeth II Place is expected to become a landmark of national remembrance. The memorial will not only celebrate the Queen\u2019s remarkable reign but also provide a lasting space of reflection for generations to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Renowned British sculptor Martin Jennings has been chosen to design the official statue of Queen Elizabeth II for a new national memorial in London, a project that will honour the country\u2019s longest-reigning monarch. Jennings, celebrated for his statues of cultural and historical figures such as George Orwell, Philip Larkin and Mary Seacole, said he was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":19285,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-international"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/images-2025-09-22T155442.668.jpeg?fit=679%2C452&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19286"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19287,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19286\/revisions\/19287"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}