Friday, April 29th 2011. The monarchy of the UK welcomed its newest member: Catherine Elizabeth Middleton, a 29 year old graduate of St Andrew’s University and long term girlfriend of Prince William. At 10.50am we saw Kate’s beautiful wedding dress for the first time and just ten minutes later watched as the 75 minute wedding service commenced with the eyes of the world on the happy couple. The crowds outside cheered, waved flags and sported other royal wedding souvenirs. Interested parties waited for the historic balcony kiss to follow at 1.30pm. It was the first time in recent history that the heir to the throne married someone who had no title of their own. Indeed, it’s been 350 years since any queen-in-waiting has not come from an aristocratic background. Read more.
Children at home watched on their parent’s televisions, some girls got into the spirit of the unfolding fairytale romance with their dolls while some boys made little Lego constructions. Bigger boys had already made larger commemorative Lego structures. But more ardent monarchists and artists have tinkered with making Royal Lego pieces for some time. It came as news to me that the Lego company can certify artists they feel have the ‘right stuff’ and so far only six artists worldwide have this recognition.
Miniland London area – Legoland, Windsor
This stunning diorama recreates William and Catherine’s wedding day. It comprises a massive replica of Buckingham Palace and is populated by the Royal Family, Knights of the Realm, Paul McCartney and Elton John (with son, Zachary) and friends David and pregnant Victoria Beckham. And the corgis too, of course!
170, 000 Lego bricks were used in total, 10,000 were used to build the characters including the crowd. Model makers spent 30 hours building this huge array of 10cm tall people to populate the scene. Buckingham Palace was built on a 1:50 scale and took over 550 hours to realise.
Professional Prince William look-a-like, Andrew Walker, and former employee opened the new attraction that also marked the park’s 15th anniversary.
Queen Elizabeth II Lego Bust
The Queen watching Trooping the Colour
And on a smaller scale!
Charles and Diana
A small recreation of their wedding day.
Princess Diana
Some people will take great pains to recreate individual wardrobes.
Of course, royalty is not only confined to the UK. There are some great examples of Lego royalty for other cultures and countries.
Taj Mahal
Pharoah
And finally…
Going further afield, what about sci-fi royalty like this from Star Wars – The Phantom Menace?
Threed Palace, Naboo
Arthur Gugick has spent many hours carefully building this first model from shots and pictures of the film. This was the scene of where the main politics of the movie centred.
Gungan Naboo Celebration
‘Royalty in Lego’ article written by guest blogger, Greg Coltman
