Princes William and Harry announce sculptor for new Diana statue

FILE - In this Monday, Nov. 2, 1987 file photo, Britain's Diana, the Princess of Wales, is pictured during an evening reception given by the West German President Richard von Weizsacker in honour of the British Royal guests in the Godesberg Redoute in Bonn, Germany. It has been 20 years since the death of Princess Diana in a car crash in Paris and the outpouring of grief that followed the death of the “people’s princess.” (AP Photo/Herman Knippertz, File)

FILE - In this Monday, Nov. 2, 1987 file photo, Britain's Diana, the Princess of Wales, is pictured during an evening reception given by the West German President Richard von Weizsacker in honour of the British Royal guests in the Godesberg Redoute in Bonn, Germany. It has been 20 years since the death of Princess Diana in a car crash in Paris and the outpouring of grief that followed the death of the “people’s princess.” (AP Photo/Herman Knippertz, File)

Published Dec 10, 2017

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London - A sculptor who produced the image

of Queen Elizabeth used on Britain's coins has been chosen to

create a new statue of Princess Diana, the office of Princes

William and Harry said on Sunday, to commemorate 20 years since

her death.

Ian Rank-Broadley, whose effigy of the Queen has appeared on

all UK and Commonwealth coinage since 1998, will design the

statue, which now will not be unveiled until next year.

"Ian is an extremely gifted sculptor and we know that he

will create a fitting and lasting tribute to our mother," Prince

William and his younger brother Harry said in a statement.

In January, the brothers commissioned a statue in honour of

their mother, who died in a Paris car crash 20 years ago to be

erected outside their official London home Kensington Palace.

Diana, the first wife of the heir-to-the-throne Prince

Charles, was killed when the limousine carrying her and her

lover Dodi al-Fayed crashed in a Paris tunnel in August 1997.

William was 15 and Harry was 12 at the time.

"We have been touched by the kind words and memories so many

people have shared about our mother over these past few months,"

the brothers said. "It is clear the significance of her work is

still felt by many in the UK and across the world, even twenty

years after her death."

It had been hoped that the statue would be unveiled before

the end of the year to mark the anniversary, but Kensington

Palace said that it was now envisaged that the statue would be

unveiled in 2019.

The first permanent memorial to her, a 210-metre (689-foot)

long fountain was unveiled in Hyde Park in 2004 after years of

bureaucratic wrangling and squabbling over the design.

Reuters

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