Esoteric London

The Mall, London, SW1 . Photo ©RogerDean 2012

In September 1940 Buckingham Palace suffered bomb damage whilst George VI and Queen Elizabeth were in residence. Queen Elizabeth was quoted afterwards as saying “I’m glad we’ve been bombed. It makes me feel I can look the East End in the face.” In 2009 a statue to the ‘Queen Mum’, as she affectionately became known, was erected on The Mall. It comprises of a one-and-a half-times-lifesize bronze statue of her flanked by two bronze relief panels by the artist Paul Day. One shows the royal couple on a visit to the East End during the Blitz as can be seen in the photograph above. R.D.