National Post (National Edition)
Princes commission statue of Lady Diana
GORDON RAYNER LONDON • Princes William and Harry have announced plans to commission a statue honouring their mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, for the 20th anniversary of her death in August.
The princes were just 15 and 13 when Diana was killed when the car in which she was travelling crashed in a Paris underpass on Aug. 31, 1997.
The memorial will stand in the public gardens at Kensington Palace, the London home where she lived with her sons, and will be paid for by public donations rather than taxpayer funds.
In a statement, the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry said: “It has been 20 years since our mother’s death and the time is right to recognize her positive impact in the U.K. and around the world with a permanent statue.
“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.”
Debate as to how Diana should be remembered began almost immediately after her funeral at Westminster Abbey, an event watched by millions around the world.
Despite the years that have passed since her death at the age of 36, William and Harry feel there is still no fitting memorial to her. The Diana Memorial Fountain in Hyde Park was beset by problems when it opened in 2004 and there was controversy over its US$5.9-million cost and what some regarded as its less-than-majestic design. The princess’s grave is on an island at her family seat, Althorp, where it cannot be accessed by the public.
Now the Duke of Cambridge, 34, and Prince Harry, 32, who had little say in the building of the fountain or the siting of her grave, have decided to take matters into their own hands.
They have turned to their closest friends and advisers to help them, convening a committee that includes the princess’s oldest sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, to appoint a sculptor and raise private funds to pay for it.
The princes hope the statue will be ready before the end of this year. It will be the centrepiece of the 20th-anniversary commemorations of Diana’s death.
“This is very much their way of commemorating their mother,” a royal source said. “It’s not really a reflection on anything that has gone before, it’s just that they feel that now they are ready to do this.”
On the 10th anniversary of the princess’s death, the princes held a fundraising pop concert. Sources said there would be no concert this year, and while there would be “other chances to acknowledge the anniversary,” the statue will be the “main event.”