Royal couple visit Queen Elizabeth II statue

Members of the Royal Family have visited what is thought to be England’s first permanent memorial to Queen Elizabeth II.

The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh were in Rutland for the first time on Tuesday to see a statue of the former monarch.

The 7ft (2.1m) bronze statue is on display outside Oakham Library.

It cost £125,000, largely covered by donations, and took sculptor Hywel Pratley 14 months to create.

It is the first time that any of the late Queen’s children have seen the statue in person.

Hundreds of people attended the statue’s unveiling in Oakham, in Rutland, on 21 April.

Mr Pratley told the BBC he discussed the statue design, which also features three corgis, with Lord Lieutenant of Rutland, Dr Sarah Furness, who commissioned the work.

Dr Furness said it was a real coup to have a royal visit to see the statue, and presented the couple with a gift of local produce from Rutland.

Their Royal Highnesses also visited Rutland Showground, Oakham Castle and The Duke of Edinburgh Memorial Garden.

By Victoria Hicks, East Midlands Today Reporter

It’s a hugely exciting day here in Oakham as the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh have just arrived at Oakham Castle.

Today, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh will present a double horseshoe which will be hung later on the castle walls. That’s a tradition here in Rutland that all peers of the realm and members of the Royal Household will present a horseshoe as a forfeit on their first visit to the county.

The tradition comes from an idea that if you gave up a horseshoe, you couldn’t gallop away without settling your bills first. Obviously, there’s no concern about that today.

The horseshoes are hung in the French way, downwards, in line with the superstition that the devil can’t make its nest in the bottom of it.

Outside the castle here, hundreds of local children so excited, waving their flags. Certainly their moods have not been dampened by the spots of rain we’ve had.