Royal arrival for the new Queen of Queens Garden

The statue is modelled on what Queen Elizabeth wore during her visit to Newcastle-under-Lyme to celebrate the town's 800th anniversary. She is seen here walking along High Street with the Mayor, Cllr Reg Lane on 25th May, 1973.

Newcastle residents can get their first glimpse of the new Queen of Queens Gardens when the statue of Queen Elizabeth II is unveiled on Friday.

The new statue has been commissioned by Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council to mark the town’s 850th anniversary in 2023.

The cost of the statue has been met by two donors. Staffordshire digger maker JCB and Capital&Centric, the developers currently working on the multi-million pound regeneration of Newcastle town centre, each donated half the cost.

The design is based on photographs of Her Majesty taken during her visit to Newcastle-under-Lyme in 1973 when she joined celebrations for the town’s 800thanniversary.

Cast in bronze, the statue will be one-and-a-quarter times life size, but, unusually for a memorial to a Monarch, will stand virtually at ground level rather than on a tall plinth.

Simon Tagg, Leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, said:

This wonderful statue of the late Queen Elizabeth is unique to Newcastle-under-Lyme and inextricably linked to our history and our celebrations of the town’s 850th anniversary. The sculptor Andy Edwards has done a remarkable job and I’m excited to see how residents react to having such an iconic memorial at ground level, rather than up high.”

Anyone wanting to see the unveiling at 11am is invited to gather on the Ironmarket side of Queens Gardens, facing Castle House.

Local sculptor Andy Edwards has a series of acclaimed works behind him, including the famous Beatles statue at Pier Head, Liverpool, Sir Stanley Matthews in Stoke-on-Trent, Sir Alex Ferguson in Aberdeen and ‘All Together Now’ – an installation of opposing soldiers shaking hands over a football to symbolise one of the most famous events of the First World War.

As well as representatives of the sponsors, some pupils from St Giles & St George’s CoE Academy will be taking part, in recognition of the fact the school once stood where Castle House now stands.

The statue, weighing one ton, will be positioned looking across Queens Gardens and will stand close to a statue of Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth II’s great-great-grandmother, which was unveiled by Grand Duke Michael of Russia in November 1903