King Charles and Queen Camilla have arrived at the British Museum in London to begin a day of commemorations marking what would have been Queen Elizabeth’s 100th birthday. The King and Queen, along with other members of the Royal Family, viewed the final models of the national memorial to Elizabeth II.
The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester were also present. Among those at the museum ready to show the masterplan to the King and Queen were renowned architect Lord Foster, who won the bid to design the permanent memorial to the King’s late mother.
Other guests included Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, artist Dame Tracey Emin, broadcaster Claudia Winkleman, designer Erdem Moralioglu and presenter Martha Kearney, who are all trustees of the museum.
The King was shown a likeness of his mother, in the form of a maquette depicting Elizabeth II as a young woman in her 20s, in her Order of the Garter robes, in the early years of her reign.
Another of his father, Prince Philip, the late Duke of Edinburgh, around the same age, in his naval uniform with his hands behind his back, was also on show.
Full-scale versions of the statues by sculptor Martin Jennings will form part of the permanent memorial in St James’s Park, close to Buckingham Palace.
The area will also incorporate a new Queen Elizabeth Bridge in glass and steel, inspired by the Queen’s wedding tiara, a family of gardens with meandering paths, a Commonwealth Wind Sculpture by artist Yinka Shonibare, and a bust of the Queen in her 50s or 60s by sculptor Karen Newman on Birdcage Walk.
The royals gathered in the museum’s circular Reading Room to see the scale model of the park, featuring tiny trees and people and the new additions.
The memorial is one of three projects honouring the Queen’s legacy, with a new charity The Queen Elizabeth Trust, and a Digital Memorial, which asks for the public’s memories of the monarch at Queenelizabeth.com, also launched today.
Meanwhile, Princess Anne officially opened The Queen Elizabeth II Garden in Regent’s Park in the capital.
Later, the royals will head to Buckingham Palace for a special reception in recognition of the late Queen’s centenary.
It comes as the King recorded a heartfelt tribute to his “darling Mama” to mark the centenary of her birth, but said much of life today would likely have “troubled her deeply”.
Charles’ video message in tribute to the nation’s longest-reigning monarch describes how “she remained constant, steadfast and wholly devoted to the people she served”.
He acknowledged the many challenges and issues nationally and across the globe that may have caused her reason for concern, and renewed his “own solemn pledge of duty and service to you all”.
The late Queen would have turned 100 on April 21 and the King said her existence should be celebrated as a “life well-lived” rather than marking an “absence”.
Comments (0)