31st August marks the date of the death of British royal, Princess Diana, and the 20th anniversary of her passing, marks an announcement that a new statue of the princess is set to be installed at her previous home, Kensington Palace, on July 1st 2021, her 60th birthday. Officials from Kensington Palace expressed that there is a delay in the erection of the new statue, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The statue was commissioned by Princess Diana’s sons, Princes William, and Harry, in 2017, and will be located outside William’s current Kensington Palace residence. The sculptor responsible for the new statue is none other than Ian Rank-Broadley, the same artist that produced the image of Queen Elizabeth that is seen on British currency.
It was in August 1997 that Princess Diana and her then partner, Dodi Al Fayed were killed in a car crash in Paris, with her sons being 15 and 12 at the time. Millions of people still flock to her memorial today as she was a much loved public figure. The first permanent memorial to her, is a 210-metre (689-foot) long fountain, which was launched in Hyde Park in 2004.
