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A 16 foot-high bronzed statue of the Queen could soon greet visitors to the riverside in Egham as part of plans to mark the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta.

It is understood the Queen herself has given permission to site the figure on a stone plinth in Runnymede Pleasure Ground.

The £350,000 project is intended as a fitting reminder of how the Magna Carta’s values of freedom and democracy have lived on, although a local historian has questioned whether a statue of the monarch is an appropriate way of marking next year’s anniversary.

Deputy mayor Derek Cotty, one of the councillors behind the plan, said the public supported the idea of immortalising Her Majesty at the site of sealing of the Magna Carta eight centuries ago.

“We have one of the most famous documents in the world, and we don’t have a monument for it,” he said. “It’s extraordinary. I think the Queen is the perfect example of being a monarch and what our monarchy has achieved. I know the public want this.

“I spend night and day on it. The anniversary is going to be a national and international event and we will be ready.”

The Runnymede Magna Carta Legacy company, set up by Cllr Cotty along with Cllr Paul Tuley, would be responsible for raising the funds and a decision on whether to proceed would have to be taken by the council later this month in order for the statue to be delivered by the anniversary date.

Cllr Cotty admitted that the time scale they have is ‘very small.’

“I would love to tell you that we have all the money in the bank, but we haven’t,” he said. “Recently we had some very good financial support from a company in Chertsey, but we are still looking for more.”

Curator of Egham Museum Dr Matthew Smith said the choice of the Queen raised ‘interesting questions’.

He recalled how, while he was being driven through Runnymede, the Queen’s father King George VI threw his arm out of the window of his car and exclaimed “And that’s where it all started” in frustration at the latest infringement on royal powers by the Churchill government of 1944. The story of the monarchy is intricately bound up with that of Magna Carta but not in a way that often reflects positively on the crown,” he told the Herald & News.

“For centuries radicals and reformers have reached for Magna Carta to defend or expand rights in opposition to the monarch or government.

Monuments and statues have an important role to play in a landscape of commemoration.

“They provide focal points for visitors to reflect upon the meaning, importance and relevance of the act or person they symbolise. What then are we asking visitors to Runnymede to reflect upon in 2015?

“Are we risking giving the suggestion, intentionally or not, that our rights are a gift of the crown and not the culmination of centuries of struggle by those often in opposition to the state?”

The proposal was due to be discussed by the council’s community services committee on Thursday night (September 11).