MPs plan to gift the Queen a LAMP-POST to mark her Platinum Jubilee with sculptors and artists competing to design the 70th anniversary commemoration
- Parliament to gift the lamp-post to the Queen as part of platinum celebrations
- The curious decision by a panel of MPs and peers sparked surprise and mockery
- An unnamed MP said of the choice ‘When I heard this, I thought it was a joke’
What do you give the Monarch who has everything? The answer, MPs and peers have decided, is a lamp-post.
The Mail on Sunday understands that this is what Parliament intends to present to the Queen next year to mark her Platinum Jubilee.
But the choice of gift to commemorate her 70 years of devoted service on the throne sparked surprise and mockery yesterday.
One MP, the SNP’s Angus Brendan MacNeil said: ‘I don’t know how Her Majesty will react but I’m sure her corgis would have loved getting to, er, know this lamp-post.’
The Queen will be presented a lamp-post to mark her Platinum Jubilee celebrations next year
Parliament has traditionally marked key moments in the Queen’s reign, installing a sundial in Westminster’s Old Palace Yard for her Golden Jubilee in 2002 and a stained glass window in Westminster Hall for her Diamond Jubilee in 2012.
But sources said that this time, a panel of MPs and peers had decided on a lamp-post and was now inviting sculptors and artists to submit their designs.
As with the 2012 window, the cost – yet to be decided – would be met by personal donations from MPs and peers, not from public money.
Senior Tory MP and Solicitor General Michael Ellis, who is overseeing the Platinum Jubilee gift, refused to give any details about the plan yesterday.
One of the MPs who voiced surprise, said: ‘When I heard this, I thought it was a joke!’
But another source urged politicians not to mock the idea, insisting: ‘Obviously, this is going to be a very special – and probably very tall – lamp-post. After all, we’re marking a truly historic occasion.’
The Queen became the longest-reigning British Monarch in 2015, and will mark her Platinum Jubilee on February 6 next year.
The longest-reigning monarch of any sovereign state was Louis XIV, who ruled France for 72 years and 110 days – a milestone Her Majesty would pass on May 27, 2024.