William and Harry to unveil Diana statue at Kensington Palace

Reuters

The Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex will meet later to unveil a statue of their mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, on what would have been her 60th birthday.

The event will be William and Harry's first appearance together since the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral in April.

Commissioned by the brothers in 2017, the statue will stand in Kensington Palace's redesigned Sunken Garden.

At the time, they said they hoped it would help visitors to the palace "reflect on her life and her legacy".

Harry, who lives in the US with his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, and their two children, arrived in the UK last week in order to complete his quarantine ahead of Thursday's event.

On Wednesday, he paid surprise visit to children's charity WellChild's awards ceremony for seriously ill children in the UK.

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Kensington Palace confirmed that, in addition to the royal brothers, members of Diana's close family will attend the unveiling, as will the committee that oversaw the statue's creation and the redesign of the garden that will be its home.

Ian Rank-Broadley, who has a long track record of creating images of the Royal Family, was chosen to sculpt it, and he will also be among the guests.

Reuters

The ceremony - scaled back due to Covid restrictions - will be a "small event and a very personal moment for the family", a source told the PA News agency.

Kensington Palace said the Sunken Garden had been "one of the princess's favourite locations" when she lived there.

More than 4,000 flowers have been planted for the garden's redesign, which has taken 1,000 hours to complete.

PA Media

Speaking about his mother's death in a recent interview, Harry said he had been willing to drink and take drugs to cope with the pain of losing her.

He also spoke of his family's unwillingness to talk about the death, and how he was expected to "suffer" in silence.

The comments, along with a series of other revelations, followed the Sussexes' decision to step down as senior royals at the beginning of 2020.

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July 01, 2021 at 11:33AM
By Hamish Mackay
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57671175