Princess Diana Statue: Garden Required 1,000 Hours of Labor and More Facts

A statue of the late Princess Diana will be added to the Sunken Garden of Kensington Palace on her 60th birthday — all the details

Honoring the people’s princess. For the late Princess Diana‘s 60th birthday, Prince William and Prince Harry commissioned a statue to be unveiled on Thursday, July 1, in the newly redesigned Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace.

“This has been a very special project to work on, as the Sunken Garden was a favourite place of Diana, Princess of Wales,” the designer Pip Morrison explained in a press release to Us Weekly about the new layout of the garden. “We have worked carefully to ensure that the new layout and planting scheme compliments the statue, providing a calming place for people who visit Kensington Palace to remember The Princess.”

The project honoring Princess Diana’s legacy began in October 2019 and workers have spent 1,000 hours perfecting the garden, with a focus on planting Diana’s favorite flowers, including forget-me-nots.

Graham Dillamore, the Deputy Head of Gardens and Estates at Historic Royal Palaces, noted the importance of the over 4,000 individual flowers in the garden.

“While she was in residence at Kensington Palace, Diana, Princess of Wales regularly admired the changing floral displays in the Sunken Garden and would always stop to talk with me and the other gardeners who cared for it,” he revealed in the press release.

William and Harry originally started to plan the tribute to their mother in January 2017, but after delays, a new date was announced in August 2020.

“It has been twenty years since our mother’s death and the time is right to recognize her positive impact in the UK and around the world with a permanent statue,” they said in a joint statement at the time. “Our mother touched so many lives. We hope the statue will help all those who visit Kensington Palace to reflect on her life and her legacy.”

The siblings will celebrate their mother’s memory at the statue unveiling, their first public event together since Prince Philip‘s funeral in April.

“Prince William and Prince Harry will attend a small event to mark the unveiling of a statue they commissioned of their mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace on Thursday 1st July,” a spokesperson for the palace said in a statement to Us on June 25. “In addition to close family of Diana, Princess of Wales, members of the statue committee, the sculptor Ian Rank-Broadley, and garden designer, Pip Morrison, will also be present.”

Scroll down for all the details on the garden where Princess Diana’s statue will be: