The Queen in the Midlands: Her Majesty unveils tribute at National Memorial Arboretum

Family and friends of fallen soldiers from the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment were among those at the service to unveil a statue of the "Lion of England" featured on its royal badge.

A total of 32 members of the regiment have died in its service since it was formed in 2006 after an amalgamation of the King's Own Royal Border Regiment, the King's Regiment, and the Queen's Lancashire Regiment.

After the service of dedication at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire, the Queen placed a wreath below the statue, and praised the work of the memorial's creators.

The Queen spent several minutes chatting to stonemason Nick Johnson and sculptor Georgie Welch, who crafted the lion from clay before it was cast at a Gloucestershire foundry.

The tribute to the regiment, which recruits in Cumbria, Lancashire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester, is seated on a plinth of Cumbrian stone featuring a carving of a glider.

The heraldic lion faces north-west in tribute to the origins of the regiment, of which the Queen is Colonel-in-Chief.

Speaking after the service, Ms Welch, who is based in Wiltshire, said of the tribute: "It was five-and-a-half months in the making in clay before it went to the foundry.

"The Queen said it was very lifelike and that it had a real look of power. She also said it looked fearless.

"I was so nervous I couldn't stop my knees shaking, but the Queen was absolutely charming."

Mr Johnson, from Westbury in Wiltshire, said he was honoured to have worked on the tribute.

"It couldn't get any better," he said.

"I don't think you can get any higher honour than to meet the Queen."

After the service, the Queen, making her fourth visit to the 150-acre arboretum, signed a visitors' book before meeting injured servicemen and women, including Invictus Games gold medallist Corporal Luke Reeson.

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