Queen Elizabeth II's love of corgis is being celebrated as part of her platinum jubilee with a trail of giant statues of the dogs set up throughout London.
The trail, called The Queen & Her Corgis, comprises 19 giant corgi statues located in public spaces, gardens, stations, lobbies and windows across the Heritage Quarter. This stretches from Victoria Station to the Royal Courts of Justice near Aldwych.
The statues will be in place throughout June and July and visitors can follow clues or a specially designed map to find each of them.
They have been installed as part of the jubilee celebrations in the UK, which begin on Thursday with a four-day weekend celebrating 70 years since Queen Elizabeth's ascension to the throne.
The statues measure up to two metres in length and each one has been designed by different contemporary artists.
The queen has had corgis by her side since the age of seven when she persuaded her father, George VI, to buy one for the family.
She has also owned several dorgis (a cross resulting from an accidental liaison between one of the queen’s corgis and Princess Margaret’s dachshund) and is a passionate breeder of gun dogs.
Since ascending to the throne, the queen has owned more than 30 dogs.
"I hope our playful Corgi Trail will entertain visitors, young and old," said Ruth Duston, chief executive of London HQ, the collective of the four South Westminster Business Improvement Districts running the trail.
"It is fantastic to be welcoming visitors back to London and doing what we arguably do best: a bit of pomp, some ceremony, British humour, and a very warm welcome, especially after the last difficult few years.”
Several of the corgis have been sponsored by businesses from across the Heritage Quarter area. These include Willow, designed by the artist Hannah Sykes and located in the Cardinal Place area, and Sugar, designed by the artist Mia Knight and positioned in Nova. Both have been sponsored by Landsec, one of the largest property owners in the South Westminster area.
“We are delighted to be part of this very special platinum jubilee celebration as we welcome two unique corgis from the trail to Cardinal Place and Nova," Marc Myers, Retail Operations Director at Landsec, said.
"The striking replicas, with designs produced by London artists, are a wonderful, eye-catching addition to the area, and we are looking forward to welcoming corgi-hunters over the next two months.”
Plans are under way for a fundraising event in the autumn, when the corgis will be auctioned off to raise money for charity.
