A statue commemorating the late Queen Elizabeth—the first to be commissioned since her death in 2022—has been unveiled in Rutland county in the East Midlands, UK. The memorial, depicting the late monarch as a young mother surrounded by her beloved Corgi dogs, was made by the London-based sculptor Hywel Brân Pratley. The work pre-empts an official memorial in the pipeline overseen by the Royal Household and the UK government.
The 7ft Rutland sculpture, which stands in the library gardens in the town of Oakham, costs £125,000. “The statue was made possible by voluntary contributions—over 96% [came] from individuals and businesses, coming in varying amounts from £10 to much more. Hundreds of people from all walks of life and businesses across Rutland contributed,” says Sarah Furness, the Lord-Lieutenant of Rutland, who commissioned the piece. A sum of £5,000 was donated by Oakham Town Council while a £5,000 grant was awarded by the Oakham Memorial Institute.
On Instagram, Pratley outlines how the sculpture was formed; showing how the sculpture was cast in bronze. “The corgis give the statue a softer, warmer edge, almost a USP, at least amongst royal statuary. They also integrate plinth, bench and bronze in an interactive way,” he tells The Art Newspaper.
Sculptor Hywel Brân Pratley in front of his work
Elli Dean Photography
The sculptor Aidan Harte comments on Instagram: “Really rather regal and she’s pretty majestic too”; another sculptor, Mary Buckman, adds: “I love this beautiful portrait.” But the culture commentator Ben Lawrence, writing in The Telegraph, criticised the work, saying: “The artist, Hywel Pratley, has turned the late Queen into a ghastly chimaera, sporting a girlish dress that makes her look like a stumpy Titania, or a cast-off from Frozen, with the faintest hint of wee [entertainer] Jimmy Krankie.”
Meanwhile, the UK government is moving ahead with a national memorial to Queen Elizabeth II. In February, several new appointments were made to the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee including Sandy Nairne, the former director of London’s National Portrait Gallery, and the historian Anna Keay.
“One of the committee’s first activities will be to engage and consult with experts in relevant fields in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to ensure expertise from across the UK is shared. The plans will be unveiled to coincide with what would have been Queen Elizabeth’s 100th birthday year in 2026,” a Cabinet Office statement says.