Artist Philip Jackson with his finished statue
WHAT INSPIRED THE SCULPTOR?
Renowned artist Philip Jackson met the Queen Mother when she was 100, to present her with a statue of her late husband King George VI. Philip said:
“ Meeting the Queen Mother at the time was incredibly useful because one could see what a great spirit she was. Even at that age she was a remarkable example of how you can live life to the full, right to the very end.”
“ When you look at the photographs and the footage, you seldom catch her without a smile on her face – it was so obvious that she had the spark of life in her and I really wanted to get that life into the work. But at the same time, this is an official memorial, showing her as Elizabeth the Queen, so what I did was to get the wind just moving her robes slightly, and a faint smile playing on her lips.”
WHAT DOES THE ORIGINAL STATUE IN LONDON LOOK LIKE?
Standing next to the bronze statue of her husband, King George VI in The Mall, this national memorial to The Queen Mother, who died in 2002 aged 101, was unveiled by HM The Queen in February 2009.
The memorial cost £ 2m and was funded by a £ 5 coin, produced by the Royal Mint to celebrate the Queen’ s 80th birthday.
The Queen Mother Statue in The Mall, London
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