Princess Diana statue: Royal fans offer their reviews after being allowed to visit for first time

Royal fans have given their verdicts on the new statue of Princess Diana, with queues of people two hours’ long waiting to get a glimpse.

More than 100 people visited the Sunken Garden, one of Diana‘s favourite parts of Kensington Palace, to see the monument that marks what would have been her 60th birthday.

On Thursday her sons Prince Harry and William were reunited for the first time since their grandfather’s funeral to unveil the statue.

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While the visitors’ love and adoration of Diana was never in question, some were more keen on the likeness of her than others.

Sky News spoke to some of those first in line to get their thoughts.

Debra and John: We have the same birthday

Debra and John went to visit the statue to celebrate Debra’s birthday.

She shares the special day with Princess Diana, and would be the same age as her too.

The couple also have two boys the same age as Prince William and Prince Harry, so for them it was “quite powerful” to visit the monument – with Debra pointing out that the princess “still draws in the crowds”, referencing the queue of people lined up waiting to take a peak.

Collette: The side profile looked more like her

Collette had met the princess twice and shook hands with her.

She says the front profile of the statue didn’t do Princess Diana much justice, but “the side profile looked more like her”.

Joyce: She was the icon of the Royal Family

Joyce is originally from Hong Kong and has childhood memories of seeing Princess Diana on the front of newspapers when she was a small child.

She described the statue as “elegant” and says for her, the small children surrounding Diana symbolise the fact she was “full of love,” describing her as the “icon of the royal family”.

Peggy Sue, Sophie and Mary: We would have loved to go for tea with her

Peggy Sue, Sophie and Mary travelled all the way from Yorkshire to see Princess Diana’s dress for a “girls day out”. While they were there, they saw the statue too.

They described the Princess as stylish but a “down to earth royal” who they would have loved to have gone out for afternoon tea with.

“She probably would have come out with us,” said Mary.

Lavinia, Sue and Jacqui: It’s beautiful, just like she was

These ladies looked as though they had been life-long friends, but Lavinia and Sue had only met Jacqui while visiting the statue.

Sue said the last time she visited Kensington Palace, her daughter was only two-months-old, and visiting the statue made her feel “quite emotional”.

The women described the statue as “beautiful” – just like Diana, they said.

Pascal: Her charity work wasn’t just for an Instagram post

Pascal was doing his Year 12 exams in Australia when the princess died, and says he always thinks of her when visiting the park.

Asked what his first reaction of the statue was, he said: “I wondered what the kids were doing around her, I didn’t understand it at first,” but added that he thinks it’s because she was the “princess of hearts for the whole world”.

He says she was an innovator before the world of social media and didn’t do charity work just “for an Instagram post” instead, she was “generally interested in using her platform for good”.