Parliament to gift ornate lamps to mark Queen’s Platinum Jubilee
TWO ORNATE lamps estimated to cost £175,000 have been commissioned as a gift from Parliament to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle and Lord Speaker Lord Fowler have written to MPs and peers to disclose new details of the project and encourage them to contribute towards its funding.
No public funds are expected to be spent on the gift, which is proposed to be a pair of “unique bronze sculptures of the heraldic beasts of the United Kingdom”.
The sculptures will include the lion of England, unicorn of Scotland, the dragon of Wales and the Irish elk of Northern Ireland.
Other Royal symbols will feature, with the lanterns formed in the shape of St Edward’s Crown.
The sculptures will be installed at the staircase leading to an existing fountain in New Palace Yard at the Palace of Westminster,
with the artist’s impression saying of the lamps: “Symbolically they represent the guiding light of the Queen.”
MPs were also told it is hoped the Queen will visit the Houses of Parliament next year to mark her 70 years on the throne.
The Government has previously announced plans to stage a series of events across four days, from June 2 to 5 in 2022, which will reflect the Queen’s reign and her impact on the UK and the world since her accession in 1952.
In a joint letter to MPs, Sir Lindsay and Lord Fowler wrote: “The addition of traditional lamps atop these beautiful heraldic sculptures follows an historic precedent in the marking of earlier Royal jubilees.
“For example, there are five lamps around the country which still exist which marked Queen Victoria’s Golden and Diamond Jubilees and these are now listed structures.”
The fountain in New Palace Yard was built in 1977 to mark the Queen’s Silver Jubilee and a sundial installed in Old Palace Yard in 2002 for her Golden Jubilee.
In 2012, to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, a stained glass window in Westminster Hall was commissioned.