Ian Rank-Broadley, the Sculptor Maker of Princess Diana’s Statue

Prince William and Prince Harry took a cooperative method with Ian Rank-Broadley as he intended and twisted the Princess Diana tribute — “they made a huge contribution,” says the sculptor

On Thursday, Prince William and Harry reunified at Kensington Palace to unveil a long-awaited statue of Princess Diana in her favourite Sunken Gardens in London. So, the one who developed the sculpture, Ian Rank-Broadley, who is he?

First of all, his royal roots are deep. Earlier, the much-admired artist has shaped the statues of Queen Elizabeth featured on all U.K. and Commonwealth coins since 1998.

Recently, Her Majesty’s Treasury debuted a special edition coin featuring a portrait of the late Duke of Edinburgh. Rank-Broadley’s also honored the life of Prince Philip, who died in April at age 99. The Associated Press stated that the limited edition, 5-pound coin — which will not enter the overall flow — was unrestricted over the weekend and features an image by Rank-Broadley which Philip accepted in 2008.

According to his website statement, Rank-Broadley won the Royal Mint competition for a new effigy of the Queen for all British coinage in 1997. His connection to the royals is since 1976 when he graduated from the Slade School of Fine Art.

He had also won the mint’s design contests for the Queen Mother Centennial crown coin in 1998, and Queen’s Golden Jubilee crown coin and medal in 2001. In making the memorial coin for the jubilee revelries, he was presented the first Olin-Stones prize from the Society of Portrait Sculptors in 2003.

After four years, Rank-Broadley finished another respected charge and created two effigy sculpture groups at the center of the Armed Forces Memorial, unveiled in 2007. The memorial, within the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, respects the 16,000 military men and women of the British Armed Forces slayed in the line of duty since WWII, people stated.

After a decade, it was proclaimed that William and Harry had specially bespoke Rank-Broadley to make a statue of Princess Diana to stand in the garden of her former home. 2017 was a year of many memorials of Diana’s life, as it marked 20 years since she died in a car crash in Paris at age 36.

“Ian is an extremely gifted sculptor and we know that he will create a fitting and lasting tribute to our mother,” the princes said in a joint statement released to PEOPLE at the time. “We look forward to unveiling the statue, which will allow all those who visit Kensington Palace to remember and celebrate her life and legacy.”

On Thursday’s unveiling, Rank-Broadley expressed reporters: “Uppermost in my mind was to do something for the princes, the princess was a very public figure and in many respects an icon — but she was somebody’s mother. So I paid the greatest heed to both princes in what they had to say.”

He continued, “In many ways, it was a collaborative effort. … They described their mother and in many ways, there were private moments that were related – one certainly got the feeling she was an enormous amount of fun and [loved] playing jokes.”

“They made a huge contribution,” he added of William and Harry. “I could say the sculpture belongs to them as well — they helped make it.”

Ringing alike feelings, Rank-Broadley said, “It is my sole and highest intention to fulfill the expectations of Their Royal Highnesses in creating a lasting and fitting memorial to their late mother Diana, Princess of Wales.”

The princes shaped a group with one of Diana’s sisters, some friends, specialists, and charity associates to select a fitting tribute. Last Summer, the sources from royals said that the design stages had been rolling well, the connection was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Nowadays, the long-awaited effigy has been revealed on what would have been Diana’s 60th birthday.

The palace stated in a statement last year, the statue was “commissioned to mark the twentieth anniversary of her death and recognize her positive impact in the UK and around the world. The Princes hope that the statue will help all those who visit Kensington Palace to reflect on their mother’s life and her legacy.”