Princess Diana.John MacIntyre / Paisley Scotland / Creative Commons
Ahead of the anniversary of her death, Prince William and Harry have issued a statement revealing that the Princess Diana statue they commissioned will be unveiled for her 60th birthday, July 1, 2021.
Prince William and Harry had commissioned a statue of Prince Diana to mark the anniversary of her death, on Mon, Aug 31. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the installation of the statue has been delayed.
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On Friday afternoon, Kensington Palace announced that the statues' installation will now take place on July 1, 2021, with a ceremony in the Sunken Garden at the palace. The statue was created by renowned artist Ian Rank-Broadley, whose portrait of the Queen appears on all United Kingdom coins.
The statement read: "The statue was commissioned to mark the twentieth anniversary of her death and recognize her positive impact in the UK and around the world."
It concluded by saying "The Princes hope that the statue will help all those who visit Kensington Palace to reflect on their mother's life and her legacy."
Previously William and Harry, the Duke of Cambridge and Duke of Sussex, had said it was the right time to recognize Princess Diana's positive impact "in the UK and around the world".
Princess Diana photographed with Prince William and Harry.
In a joint statement released following the commissioning of the project, William and Harry said "Our mother touched so many lives. We hope the statue will help all those who visit Kensington Palace to reflect on her life and her legacy."
In a 2016, Hello magazine, interview Harry had said that he and Prince William were determined to create a "permanent memorial" to their mother.
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"We want to make sure that there's something that she's remembered by and there's certainly not enough on the right scale in London or anywhere in the UK that she's remembered for. And I think myself, William and a few other people, we all agree on that," Harry said.
He added: "Something needs to be put in stone or in place as a memory. Lots of people still talk about her. Every single day we still think about her, so it would be very fitting on the 20th anniversary to have something that is going to last forever and is actually a proper recognition of what she did when she was alive."
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