A final shortlist of designs for the national memorial to Queen Elizabeth II have been unveiled.
With a provisional budget of up to £46m – excluding VAT – the monument will be located in St James’s Park, close to Buckingham Palace in central London.
It will provide the public with a permanent memorial to the country’s longest-reigning monarch, who died in 2022.
Ideas shortlisted include a cast of a Windsor oak tree, a giant canopy of stone lily pads and a statue of the late Queen next to Prince Philip.
Other designs include audio installations featuring the late Queen’s voice, a “tranquil family” of romantic royal gardens inspired by the Georgian architect John Nash, and a “graceful and strong” stone bridge with cascading water.
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Public funds will pay for the memorial, and from the various submissions, the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee will select a winner.
The winning concept is expected to be unveiled in 2026, which would have been the late Queen’s 100th birthday year.
The eventual memorial site is set to be located near The Mall at Marlborough Gate.
One artist or sculptor will be tasked with depicting the late Queen’s likeness as well.
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The final design will be submitted to the King and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer for approval.
The five shortlisted designs are:
Royal gardens
A “tranquil family” of royal gardens inspired by John Nash’s original landscape of the park, linked by a natural stone tessellated path by Lord Foster of Foster + Partners with artist Yinka Shonibare, ecologist Professor Nigel Dunnett and landscape architect Michel Desvigne Paysagiste.
Other elements include a statue of the Queen alongside Philip on Birdcage Walk, a wind sculpture for reflection, audio installations of the Queen’s voice, a digital conservatory and a unity bridge.
Memorial walk
A memorial walk inspired by the idea of “togetherness” with 70 lily pad stepping stones by Heatherwick Studio with sculptor and ceramicist Halima Cassell, MRG Studio, Webb Yates and Arup.
At the centre of the bridge is a limestone sculpture of the late Queen, protected by a giant canopy of eight sculptural lilies.
Stone bridge
An innovative stone bridge featuring a gentle cascade of water onto the lake, to represent the late Queen as the bedrock of the nation has been designed by J&L Gibbons with production designer Michael Levine, and William Matthews Associates.
It aims to capture a “meandering flow of geology carrying people through an ephemeral choreography of blossoming and colour beneath the high tree canopy” and includes glades to invite “forest bathing in the heart of the city”.
Windsor oak
An exact cast of an “awe-inspiring” oak from Windsor Great Park, representing the late Queen’s strength and endurance and symbolising the monarchy is the central focus of a design by Tom Stuart-Smith with Jamie Fobert Architects and artist Adam Lowe of Factum Are.
The tree would stand on a plinth in the lake, with a curved stone bridge as a viewing platform. There would also be a serpentine memorial path featuring bronze casts of significant objects from the late Queen’s life and a “sonic soundscape” of memories from those she impacted.
Interwoven pathways
A thread of pathways and landscapes “gently woven through the natural fabric” of the park with a pair of “elegant bridges” have been proposed by WilkinsonEyre with artists Lisa Vandy and Fiona Clarke.
The thread, with symbolic spaces for reflection, focuses on seven themes of the late Queen’s life – reign, faith, Commonwealth, values, nature, family, and Prince Philip.
The competition has been hailed as one of the most significant design initiatives in modern British history.
Members of the public are being encouraged to view the proposals and offer feedback by 19 May.
