London To Get Spectacular New Queen Elizabeth II Memorial

The UK capital is set to get a stunning new landmark to commemorate the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II. To be created by Foster + Partners, whose winning design was unveiled this week, the new national memorial will be located in St. James’s Park and visible from Buckingham Palace.

“[The] winning design concept celebrates Queen Elizabeth’s life through a time of great change, balancing tradition and modernity, public duty and private faith, the United Kingdom and a global Commonwealth,” explained Foster + Partners.

The memorial will see a section of St. James’s Park relandscaped to incorporate two new gates and two new gardens, connected by a bridge and “unifying pathway.” At its heart, the translucent bridge will feature a balustrade made of cast glass inspired by the late Queen’s tiara. The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, is also incorporated into the gardens alongside a statue of the Queen, likely mounted on horseback overlooking The Mall—although the final designs will be decided by the sculptor.

Norman Foster, Founder and Executive Chairman of Foster + Partners, said: “It is an honour and a privilege for our team to be awarded this project. Her Majesty loved history and tradition, so this is reflected in the inspiration of the original design of St James’s Park by Sir John Nash. Some of his principles have survived, whilst others have been lost and will be restored, creating a family of gardens joined by gently meandering paths…

“We have discreetly stretched the boundaries of art and technology with a deliberately gentle intervention. Our design will have the minimum impact on the nature and biodiversity of the park and it will be phased to ensure that the precious route across it will never be closed.

At the heart of our masterplan is a translucent bridge symbolic of Her Majesty as a unifying force, bringing together nations, countries, the Commonwealth, charities and the armed forces.”

St. James’s Park is an historic and constitutionally significant part of London, long renowned as an area of tranquility and place for calm reflection amid the mayhem of the capital city. It also has a long association with Queen Elizabeth II, overlooked by Buckingham Palace, reflected in the designs with an area of the park adjacent to The Mall at Marlborough Gate and an area adjacent to Bird Cage Walk connected by the new bridge.

Although the final designs won’t be announced until April 2026 to coincide with what would have been the late Queen’s 100th birthday, the base designs are set and multi-faceted. They include separate statues of the Queen and the Queen with Prince Philip, gardens connected by meandering paths “to create spaces for reflection and coming together”, artistic installations celebrating Britain’s diversity, two gates including a Prince Philip gate, and the main monument to the Queen herself.

Don’t book your tickets to London quite yet though. With the final designs set to be announced next year, there’s as yet no set date for the memorial to be completed and no budget yet in place. Previous estimates have put the budget between £23 million and £46 million (around $32 million to $63 million) with no word on how it will be funded, though anti-monarchy group Republic have called for the Royal family to pay rather than the taxpayer.