Royal column:
Behind palace gates with Juliet Rieden
It was the moment we had all been waiting for – Princes William and Harry reunited to honour their mother Diana, Princess of Wales, on the day that would have been her 60th birthday. The brothers had announced their joint commission of a statue of their mother back in 2017, a year awash with Diana memories 20 years after her death, its tragedy as inconceivable and painful as ever.
This was to be a joint project for Diana’s sons, who are both fierce guardians of their mother’s memory. According to Kensington Palace, “Prince William and Prince Harry wanted the statue to recognise her positive impact in the UK and around the world, and help future generations understand the significance of her place in history.”
A small committee was formed, including Diana’s sister Lady Sarah McCorquodale, private funds raised – reportedly including donations from Sir Elton John and his husband – and a sculptor chosen. But the widening chasm between the two princes stalled progress, leaving many wondering whether the royals could ever put their differences aside and work together again.
While the soap opera of the brothers’ feud has played out very publicly and melodramatically, there’s no question a great deal has happened in the intervening years and especially the past six months, with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex airing their private grievances on TV and seemingly setting up their own Californian court outside the royal family.
So when Harry flew in and holed up for five days of quarantine in his Frogmore Cottage residence in Windsor, the stage seemed set for a dramatic altercation.
But on July 1, back at their childhood home, William and Harry did exactly what they set out to do, jointly unveiling a poignant, powerful and lasting memorial to their mother. For this was very clearly not about them – it was about Diana.
The event was dignified, restrained and much quieter than anticipated. The planned 100-strong party had been shelved in respect of Covid restrictions and media scaled back to a bare minimum. A small group of Diana’s family joined the princes at Kensington Palace, along with those involved in the project.
Only a week earlier, a royal household source had suggested both princes would be making separate speeches. That didn’t happen either. Instead, a joint statement cut through the gossip and spoke from the heart: “Today we remember her love, strength and character – qualities that made her a force for good around the world, changing countless lives for the better. Every day, we wish she were still with us, and our hope is that this statue will be seen forever as a symbol of her life and her legacy.”
Sculptor Ian Rank-Broadley, best known as the artist who created the Queen’s likeness currently showing
on British coinage, revealed that both boys were very hands-on with his design.
“Uppermost in my mind was to do something for the princes,” he said. “The princess was a very public figure and, in many respects, an icon, but she was somebody’s mother. So I paid the greatest heed to both princes in what they had to say. In many ways, it was a collaborative effort. They made a huge contribution. The sculpture belongs to them as well.”
And as the veil dropped away, lifted by the royal brothers in unison, the sculpture itself was surprising and thought-provoking. Diana is standing at the head of a strategically redesigned Sunken Garden outside Kensington Palace, where she was often found lost in thought. Amid beautiful flowerbeds of whites and pastels, including her favourite forget-me-nots, the royal icon is depicted not as a princess in regal gown and jewels, but as a strong, powerful woman, whose influence is represented by the three children surrounding her, a symbol of the universality of her appeal.
Scupltor Ian explained that the children were not based on anybody in particular. “We felt if the princess stood on her own in solitary fashion, she might appear isolated. One of the things that came across in talking to her friends and family was she was such a friendly and gregarious person, and she had a particular warmth for children.”
The outfit seemed to be inspired from a photo used on a 1993 Christmas card of Diana and her sons in which the she wore a blouse, a large buckled belt and skirt, but Diana’s person was from later years.
“The portrait and style of dress was based on the final period of her life as she gained confidence in her role as an ambassador for humanitarian causes, and aims to convey her character and compassion,” noted Kensington Palace.
This is Diana post-divorce, post-royal family, when her life was taking off in a new and vital direction, as she harnessed the power of her popularity for the causes she was most passionate about. This is Diana as the boys want us to see her.
She was just 36 when she died, almost four years younger than William is now and the same age as Harry, and through this statue, I can see how her sons are clearly cut from the same cloth, following in her footsteps, albeit in different ways.
The sculptor never met her, but Ian says that after spending so much time talking to the princes and working on the sculpture, he got a real sense of Diana, the woman behind the myth. “They described their mother and in many ways, there were private moments that were related,” he said.
Here – in this statue – her sons have presented their
Diana, available for people to visit in perpetuity.
And while it is premature to suggest bridges have been miraculously mended between the brothers, their easy manner together in front of the cameras was far from the tempest expected. There may be a way to go, but on this day, Diana brought her boys together.
“In this statue, her sons have presented their Diana.”