A statue of Princess Diana is set to be installed in the garden of Kensington Palace on what would have been her 60th birthday.
The statue was commissioned by the Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex and will be placed in the garden of the palace on July 1 next year.
The overarching ambition behind the statue – which has been created by artist Ian Rank-Broadley – is to recognise the “positive impact” made by the late princess.
Although the installation has been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, it’s still scheduled to be revealed at Kensington Palace in 2021.
Speaking about the project three years ago, her children Prince William and Prince Harry said: “It has been 20 years since our mother’s death and the time is right to recognise her positive impact in the UK and around the world with a permanent statue.”
Meanwhile, Prince William previously admitted to being in a “state of shock” for years following his mother’s death.
The 38-year-old royal – who has Prince George, seven, Princess Charlotte, five, and Prince Louis, two, with the Duchess of Cambridge – revealed the extent to which he struggled to come to terms with her passing.
Asked whether he grieved her death, Prince William replied: “That is a very good question. Probably not properly. I was in a state of shock for many years.”
Asked if it literally took “years” to fully comprehend his mother’s death, he said: “Yes, absolutely.
“People might find that weird, or think of shock as something that is there, it hits you, then in an hour or two, maybe a day or two, you are over it.
“Not when it is this big a deal; when you lose something so significant in your life, so central, I think the shock lasts for many years.”
Diana’s activism and glamour made her an international icon and earned her an enduring popularity as well as an unprecedented public scrutiny, which was fuelled by her tumultuous private life.
She was the first wife of Prince Charles of Wales. The couple separated in 1992, soon after the breakdown of their relationship became public knowledge. The details of their marital difficulties became increasingly publicised, and the marriage ended in divorce in 1996.
The controversial Princess Diana died in a car crash in Paris, France on the 31st of August 1997. Her burial was broadcasted world over on the 6th of September 1997.
