An acclaimed sculptor tasked with creating a statue of Queen Elizabeth II for her national memorial says he does not yet know what the sculpture will look like. Martin Jennings, who has also portrayed the Queen Mother and the King in past works, has been chosen to craft the statue for a new civic space called Queen Elizabeth II Place at Marlborough Gate in St James's Park, near Buckingham Palace. The memorial project, designed by architect Lord Foster, will also include a Prince Philip Gate on Birdcage Walk, along with a family of gardens and a translucent glass unity bridge.
Jennings said that at this stage there has been no fixed concept for how the queen will be represented. He noted that the commissioning body intended to enter a process of discussion to determine the most appropriate form for the statue. He added that his appointment was based largely on his past work rather than a predefined design, with the request that he deliver a monument that responds to people’s needs, the committee’s expectations and the architectural requirements of Foster + Partners.
“I’m sure this will be a wonderful new piece of work that also pays tribute to the longevity of Queen Elizabeth II,” Jennings said. He stressed the importance of creating something contemporary rather than something that could be mistaken for a relic of an earlier era. “I would like to make something that has clearly been made now; I don’t want to make something that could be mistaken as having been put up 150 years ago or even 50 years ago,” he said. He described the statue as needing the “grandeur and dignity appropriate” for a ceremonial route and suggested the figure should carry a sense of stillness befitting the queen’s widely noted grace, decency and restraint.
Jennings, 68, has a notable record of royal- and public-figures sculpture. In addition to past royal subjects, he created a bust of the Queen Mother in St Paul’s Cathedral and the first crowned coinage portrait of the King. His portfolio also includes statues of George Orwell outside BBC Broadcasting House, Philip Larkin in Hull, Mary Seacole at London’s St Thomas’ Hospital and the Women Of Steel in Sheffield. He noted the historical linkage across generations of royal representations and said it felt meaningful that the project connects with others across more than a century of British history. "We have yet to find out how the project will work and I’m sure the King and the royal family will be very interested in how Queen Elizabeth is represented. I would want to have their approval," he said.
The memorial’s proposal is subject to change as a panel of committee members collaborates with the design team on the final plan, which is expected to be unveiled in 2026—the late queen’s 100th birthday year. The project carries a provisional construction budget of between £23 million and £46 million, excluding VAT, and forms part of Foster + Partners’ broader design for the site, which includes the new gates, gardens and a unity bridge intended to symbolize a sense of national unity around the royal family’s legacy.