Trio want a statue of Queen in Market Square

That is the hope of three Guernseymen who have come together to garner support for the project.

The three first came together through the letters page of the Guernsey Press – Roy Sarre and Bryan Mauger having been inspired by the original letter of Mic Le Vasseur.

Realising they all knew each other, the three organised themselves into a rough committee to try to get the ball rolling on funding a memorial.

‘We love the Queen, the three of us,’ said Mr Sarre.

‘The funeral was such an emotional occasion, and the island’s response was marvellous. The Queen was so unique in the world, we feel that the island won’t have any doubt about a lasting memorial.’

The three have contacted the Bailiff’s office, a number of States departments and deputies and are hoping to speak to the Lt-Governor soon.

‘Now we would like the whole Bailiwick to become involved,’ said Mr Sarre.

‘We want to gauge what people think and promote this as quickly as we can.’

At the moment they have no specific budget, but would hope the statue would be funded partly by the public and partly through a contribution from the States.

If they can get initial interest the three men are happy to hand the project over.

‘As we see things, if we can get the ball rolling we’ve done our job, and we’ll meet maybe two or three other people. When we’ve done that, hopefully somebody is going to say, right, we’ll take it over, and we’ll collect the money and we can just sit back as our part will be done,’ said Mr Mauger.

Mr Mauger said they wanted to be one of the first places to have a memorial statue.

One letter to the Guernsey Press had suggested that any statue needed to be named ‘Elizabeth Windsor, Duke of Normandy’ reflecting the late monarch’s true relationship to the Bailiwick, but the group thought this was a moot point.

‘It’s probably correct theoretically,’ said Mr Mauger.

‘But very few people would even think of it. To the vast majority of the population, she is the queen of the United Kingdom, which includes us.’

They have suggested that if they can get enough support, a statue could be ready for May 2025 and could also see Market Square change its name to Queen Elizabeth Square.

Mr Le Vasseur said: ‘This would give the project a strong focus. 2025 is the 80th anniversary of the Liberation, and we could invite the King and the Queen consort to unveil the statue.’