Queen Elizabeth statue could be placed in Trafalgar Square after talks between MPs and officials

17 September 2022, 15:58 | Updated: 17 September 2022, 17:34

A statue of the Queen could become a permanent fixture in Trafalgar Square as Buckingham Palace and MPs discuss ways of commemorating the monarch's 70-year reign.

Currently there is only one full-size statue of Her Majesty in the whole of the UK. This was erected in Windsor Great Park in 2002 to mark the Golden Jubilee.

But any plans for a new tribute will not be revealed until after the official mourning period, with no such discussions taking place ahead of her state funeral on Monday.

"This is something that we do want to consider very carefully in the fullness of time," a government source told the Times.

Other options being considered include renaming streets, parks, racecourses and even London's Heathrow - the airport where she returned to Britain from Kenya as Queen Elizabeth II following the death of her father George VI in 1952. 

However the most likely memorial will be at Trafalgar Square, where the fourth plinth has been deliberately kept vacant for the past 20 years.

Since 1998, the plinth has seen a succession of quirky art installations including an enormous ice cream with a fly on it and a huge thumbs up made out of bronze.

But it is expected to feature a more permanent figure in the near future. In 2013, former London mayor Ken Livingstone said: "The understanding is that the fourth plinth is being reserved for Queen Elizabeth II."

A spokesman for the Greater London Authority, which is responsible for the fourth plinth, said: "A Queen Elizabeth II statue at a suitable location in London is a matter for His Majesty the King and the royal family to consider. 

"The GLA stands ready to support them in their wishes."

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Trafalgar Square has a plinth in each of its four corners, with the two southern blocks carrying sculptures of Henry Havelock and Charles James Napier - both British Army Major Generals who waged campaigns in India in the 18th and 19th centuries. 

Its two northern plinths are larger and designed for equestrian statues, with one currently featuring a bronze statue of George IV - who died in 1828 - riding bareback while dressed in ancient Roman attire.

Some MPs fear the location of the vacant fourth plinth is "not sufficiently prominent" and any memorial or statue of the Queen should be placed in Parliament Square. This could become the centrepiece once the square is pedestrianised.