Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has paid tribute to the late Queen’s “enduring legacy of service and devotion to our country” ahead of the second anniversary of her death, saying she will “never be forgotten”.
The nation’s longest-reigning monarch died peacefully at Balmoral Castle on September 8 2022 at the age of 96.
Elizabeth II, whose reign spanned 70 years, dedicated her life to her royal duty.
The anniversary of her death, and of the King’s accession to the throne, falls on Sunday.
+5
Queen Elizabeth II, just three days before her death, waits in the Drawing Room to hold an audience with outgoing prime minister Liz Truss (Jane Barlow/PA)
Sir Keir said a new national memorial in her honour, which will stand in St James’s Park in the heart of London, will provide “everyone with a place to honour the late Queen and connect with the shared history we cherish”.
The site, approved by Charles and the Prime Minister, was chosen because of its closeness to the ceremonial route of The Mall, and Buckingham Palace, and its historical and constitutional significance, but also because of a poignant personal connection to the late Queen – the nearby statues of her beloved parents.
The bronze tributes to King George VI, who died at the age of 56 in 1952, and the Queen Mother, who died aged 101 in the Golden Jubilee year of 2002, stand just a short distance along The Mall.
+5
Picture
Sir Keir said: “Queen Elizabeth II’s enduring legacy of service and devotion to our country will never be forgotten.
“The national memorial will be located in St James’s Park, right in the heart of the capital, providing everyone with a place to honour the late Queen and connect with the shared history we cherish.”
The Queen travelled up and down The Mall in horse-drawn carriages and state cars watched by huge crowds countless times over the decades, making the journey for jubilees, state visits, on her coronation day, and for birthday celebrations, royal weddings and funerals.
Her former private secretary Lord Janvrin, who is chairman of the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee, said: “The Mall and St James’s Park at the ceremonial heart of our capital provides a location closely identified with so many events of the late Queen’s life.
+5
The gold state coach carrying Queen Elizabeth II during the Golden Jubilee celebrations in The Mall (Barry Batchelor/PA)
“It is a fitting site for the national memorial in her honour to remember and celebrate her extraordinary contribution to our lives throughout her long reign.”
Architects, artists and designers will be invited to submit proposals later this year to fit the brief of providing a memorial, which will serve as a space for contemplation and community and be of appropriate scale and ambition to match the late Queen’s impact.
The memorial, depending on its form, will be located just a few hundred metres from the Palace, in the area of St James’s Park adjacent to The Mall at Marlborough Gate, and on the east of the pathway which leads down to the lake near the park’s Blue Bridge.
The path also acts as a small section of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Walk – a seven-mile route through the capital in memory of the princess.
+5
The view of Buckingham Palace from across the lake in St James´s Park (Johnny Green/PA)
The aftermath of Diana’s death in a car crash in 1997 proved one of the most challenging times for the modern monarchy.
The Queen was perceived as being out of step with the feelings of mourners, with the public left wondering why the monarch, who was at Balmoral with Princes William and Harry, took so long to speak publicly about the tragedy.
But on the eve of the funeral, the Queen addressed the nation, saying everyone had been trying to cope in different ways and “What I say to you now, as your Queen and as a grandmother, I say from my heart.”
Baroness Amos, Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee member and former Lord President of the Council, reflected on the Queen’s global leadership over the decades, saying she “knew how to connect to people and bring communities together”.
+5
The statues of the Queen´s parents King George VI and the Queen Mother on The Mall (Jamie Wiseman/PA)
“I admired her resilience and steadfastness, her belief in the people of Britain and the Commonwealth, her quiet diplomacy, her subtle use of power and common sense approach,” she added.
The Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee is the independent body tasked with considering and recommending proposals to the King and the Prime Minister.
Public funds will be used to pay for the memorial, but the UK Government will also make funding available for memorial projects in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The announcement of the final design will coincide with what would have been the Queen’s 100th birthday year in 2026.
News
Happy birthday, India Hicks! King Charles’s goddaughter turns 57 today – 45 years after she chose to stay ashore on the day her grandfather Lord Mountbatten was assassinated on his boat
Few figures are more closely connected to the Royal Family than India Hicks. India, who celebrates her 57th birthday today, is the granddaughter of Lord Louis Mountbatten, Prince Philip‘s uncle and…
I went to Princess Diana’s funeral, and then cried in the street: Royal expert CHARLES RAE recalls that tragic day 27 years ago, when he sat opposite the Queen in Westminster Abbey
It was an event I never expected to attend, but there I was on September 6, 1997, walking in bright sunshine to Westminster Abbey. As hundreds of…
‘Irritable’ Prince Philip refused to watch Helen Mirren’s The Queen due to the ‘inaccurate portrayal’ of Elizabeth II who ‘NEVER cried’, Gyles Brandreth claims
He has brushed shoulders with numbers of royalty over the years. And Gyles Brandreth, 76 – who shared a close relationship with the late Prince Philip – has…
Prince William and Kate Middleton are hiring at Kensington Palace – but the candidate needs to be tech savvy!
The Prince and Princess of Wales ramping up their PR operations at Kensington Palace – in a sign that Kate may be getting ready to take on more royal…
Wayne Cooper’s wife is banned from STALKING the designer just months after they married – as she channels Princess Di in a savage message to his ex
The new wife of top designer Wayne Cooper has been banned by a court from stalking her own husband – despite her claims the couple are more…
Prince Harry has ‘no interest’ in returning to Britain to resume royal duties
Prince Harry has ‘no interest’ in leaving the United States and returning to royal duties in Britain, sources claim. The Duke of Sussex has reportedly sought advice from trusted former…
End of content
No more pages to load