Expressions of interest in the memorial to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother

3 February 2006

The entry deadline for Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother's Memorial resulted in a further surge of interest from designers and sculptors, and over 70 submissions have been received. As well as from the United Kingdom expressions of interest have come from Australia, Japan, Italy, Spain, France and the USA.
 
Many of the approaches feature statues, whilst others are based on general concepts of urban design. Members of the public have also written in to express their views and these will be taken into account when the selection committee consider all the submissions.

A shortlist of designers will be selected by the end of February. Those selected will be invited to prepare costed proposals over a three month period and will be featured on this web site. In due course, the short listed designs will be shown as well.

In July, the short listed designs will be submitted for consideration by the selection panel and by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales.

Notes to Editors:
1. The site for the memorial to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother is on the north side of The Mall in London between Marlborough Road and Admiralty Arch. The existing statue of  King George VI in this location was created in 1955 and shows the king dressed in naval uniform. It is envisaged that the existing site will be modified to include a memorial to Queen Elizabeth. The site lies within an area managed by the Royal Parks, which will maintain the memorial on completion. 

2. The closing date for designers to register expressions of interest is 31January 2006.

3. The initial selection panel will comprise: The Keeper of the Privy Purse, The Director of the Royal Collection, The Principal Private Secretary to The Prince of Wales, and The Director of the Property Section, Buckingham Palace.

4. The memorial project will be managed by the Royal Household, in association with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. 

5. A special £5 coin produced by the Royal Mint to celebrate The Queen's 80th birthday this year will be sold to raise funds for a national memorial to the late Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Further information on this coin can be obtained through www.royalmint.gov.uk.

Released at 15.00 GMT on Friday 3rd February 2006.