Queen Mother memorial

Sir, The proposed monument to the Queen Mother (report, Jan 10; letters Jan 17), to be incorporated into the memorial to her husband George VI, will need some careful thought. Your correspondent favours a statue of the Queen, companion to her husband’s bronze which shows the King at around the age of his death in his fifties. A statue of the Queen Mother at the age of her death would represent someone approaching twice the age of her late husband; if shown at the same age as the King, this would ignore a long and much-esteemed widowhood.

A design incorporating a fountain, understandably, is barred in the current brief. It should be noted that the surrounding garden and steps down to The Mall, whose boundaries are reflected in this brief, were designed by Louis de Soissons as part of the original memorial: this will need acknowledgement in any design, whether or not this is to include a traditional representation of the Queen Mother. Anything too literal or representational might, in this era, seem pedestrian; anything too outré will frighten the horses. A fascinating challenge for any artist.