Evelyn Marie Seidel (73), founder of what she claims to be the only German “Lady Di Club”, commemorates the British princess with a new statue on the 25th anniversary of her death. The angel-like monument will be presented to the public on time this Wednesday (August 31) in Vettelschoß in northern Rhineland-Palatinate, says the head of the association at the German Press Agency. Then Diana’s accidental death in a Paris car tunnel is exactly a quarter of a century ago.
Seidel adds that there have been refusals from her hometown of Hamelin in Lower Saxony and several nearby castle owners – but not from Gary Blackburn. Born in England, he offered the “Lady Di Club” a place for the statue on a pedestal with two columns in the garden of his British themed hotel in Vettelschoß. That fits well, says Seidel. “A lot of England fans come there anyway.”
For example, in the hotel “The Little Britain Inn” the rooms are called “James Bond Room”, “Sherlock Holmes Room”, “Harry Potter Room”, “Queen’s Room” and “Scottish Room” with corresponding large murals. Outside are a 52-ton tank painted as a giant British flag, London double-decker buses, a rebel Robin Hood’s hut, English telephone booths and palace guards. In between, two dogs romp around, Irish Setters. “Their names are Charles and Camilla,” says hotel manager Blackburn.
Driven by his love of home, he wanted to create a mini-Britain here after Brexit. He always had a big heart for the “Queen of Hearts”: His daughter Alyson was given the middle name Diana and his son William was given the name of the British prince as a reminder.
Seidel, whose club has 17 women and one man nationwide, says he had another statue made by an artist from Lower Saxony for 650 euros. But this angel was too “sloppy” and therefore “disposed of”. The new monument for 731 euros was designed by Leipzig experts for garden figures – very convincing. A plaque on the angel should read, looking at Lady Di: “For many, she was like an angel on earth. Now she is an angel in heaven.”
Facebook page “Lady Di Club” Hotel “The Little Britain Inn”
