Prince Harry is currently in the United Kingdom, as he will unveil a statue in honor of his late mother, Princess Diana, on Thursday. Harry will attend the event alongside Prince William amid reports about their strained relationship. According to Entertainment Tonight, Harry and William will unveil a statue of their mother in the Sunken Garden of Kensington Palace. The publication noted that the location holds a special meaning for the Duke of Sussex.
The statue in question was sculpted by Ian Rank-Broadly. It will be unveiled on Thursday on what would have been her 60th birthday. ET noted that the Sunken Garden was a place that Diana was quite fond of, as she visited often when she was living at Kensington Palace. Additionally, the location also holds a special connection to Harry, as it is where he and his now-wife, Meghan Markle, posed for photos when they announced their engagement in November 2017. The pair stood side-by-side in the garden as they posed for photos and answered questions from reporters.
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Back in 2017, Sean Harkin, the head gardener for Kensington Palace, explained the significance of the garden to Vogue. Harkin explained, “[Diana] would stop by and talk to the gardeners when she was living here. She might be going out for a jog or a walk in the park and if it was early and it was quiet, she would have a chat with them.” In advance of the statue unveiling, Kensington Palace has implemented renovations to the garden.
ET reported that the garden was redesigned, this time by Pip Morrison. The redesign began in October 2019 and consisted of over 1,000 working hours. In order to make the Sunken Garden all the more special, the planting design features Diana’s favorite flowers, such as roses, forget-me-nots, sweet peas, and tulips. In total, there were more than 4,000 individual flowers planted. Morrison said about the redesign process for the location, “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.” As previously stated, Harry and William will unveil the statue of Diana on Thursday at the Sunken Garden. This event will mark the first time that the two brothers will be spotted together publicly since Prince Philip’s funeral, which took place in April.
