French Lavoux limestone statues of The Queen and Prince Philip have been unveiled by the couple at Canterbury Cathedral, the seat of the Church of England of which the monarch is the head. They stand next to the West Door of the Cathedral.

They were designed and sculpted by renowned sculptor Nina Bilbey, a lecturer at the City & Guilds of London Art School, with some help in roughing out from Jackie Blackman. You can follow Nina's account of the sculpting of the statues on her website (www.ninabilbey.com).

The stone is the same stone that is being used for the rebuilding of the Great South Window, currently being supported by scaffolding as it is dismantled and restored (you can read more about that here).