King Charles honours ‘darling mama’ on what would have been her 100th birthday

King Charles has paid a tender tribute to his late mother Queen Elizabeth on what would have been her 100th birthday, saying his “darling Mama” would “remain forever in our hearts and prayers”.

Elizabeth, Britain’s longest-reigning and longest-lived monarch, was born on April 21, 1926, and spent 70 years on the throne before her death in September 2022 at the age of 96.

In a televised statement, Charles said his mother had shaped the world around her, and touched the lives of countless people.

Charles: ‘Marvellous twinkle of the eye’

“Today, as we mark what would have been my beloved mother’s 100th birthday, my family and I pause to reflect on the life and loss of a sovereign who meant so much to us all, and to celebrate anew the many blessings of her memory,” he said.

“Millions will remember her for moments of national significance; many others for a fleeting personal encounter, a smile, a kind word that lifted spirits, or for that marvellous twinkle of the eye when sharing a marmalade sandwich with Paddington Bear in the final months of her life.”

Elizabeth was not expected to become queen when she was born, but after her uncle Edward VIII abdicated to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson, her father became King George VI when she was 10. 

She then became queen herself in 1952, aged just 25.

To mark the centenary of her birth, the royal family are carrying out a number of engagements this week. 

On Monday, Charles and his wife Queen Camilla visited a new exhibition dedicated to her fashion.

On Tuesday, the king and other royals will visit the British Museum to view the final designs for a national memorial to Elizabeth in London’s St James’s Park, featuring statues of the queen and her late husband Prince Philip.

“The nation will commemorate her extraordinary reign with a memorial that offers a place of reflection for generations to come,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement.

Charles’s sister, Princess Anne, will officially open the Queen Elizabeth II Garden in London’s Regent’s Park and the king will host a reception at Buckingham Palace in the evening.

“Much about the times we now live in, I suspect, may have troubled her deeply, but I take heart from her belief that goodness will always prevail and that a brighter dawn is never far from the horizon,” Charles said. 

“It is a belief which I share, with all my heart,” he added.

Queen Elizabeth II memorial

The memorial to the queen will feature a statue by sculptor Martin Jennings of her as a young woman dressed in ceremonial robes.

The bronze likeness will take inspiration from a celebrated 1955 portrait of her by Italian artist Pietro Annigoni.

A 28-year-old Elizabeth sat for Annigoni in late 1954 just a couple of years into her reign.

Robin Janvrin, Elizabeth’s former private secretary and chair of the memorial project’s committee, described the resulting portrait as a “lovely, iconic image of the young queen”.

The combined statue and plinth will stand 7.3 metres high at the entrance to the memorial in London’s St James’s Park, close to Buckingham Palace.

The memorial will feature a family of gardens through the park with meandering paths and a new translucent glass unity bridge, inspired by Elizabeth’s wedding tiara.

There will also be a smaller statue of her late husband, Prince Philip, dressed in his naval uniform, looking up at his wife.

Reuters/AFP