The overarching ambition behind the statue – which has been created by artist Ian Rank-Broadley – is to recognize the “positive impact” made by the late princess, who died in a car crash in Paris in 1997.

Although the installation has been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, it’s still scheduled to be revealed at Kensington Palace in 2021.

Speaking about the project three years ago, Prince William and Prince Harry said: “It has been 20 years since our mother’s death and the time is right to recognize her positive impact in the UK and around the world with a permanent statue.”

Meanwhile, Prince William previously admitted to being in a “state of shock” for years following his mother’s death.

The 38-year-old royal – who has Prince George, seven, Princess Charlotte, five, and Prince Louis, two, with the Duchess of Cambridge – revealed the extent to which he struggled to come to terms with her passing.

Asked whether he grieved her death, Prince William replied: “That is a very good question. Probably not properly. I was in a state of shock for many years.”

Asked if it literally took “years” to fully comprehend his mother’s death, he said: “Yes, absolutely.

“People might find that weird, or think of shock as something that is there, it hits you, then in an hour or two, maybe a day or two, you are over it.

“Not when it is this big a deal; when you lose something so significant in your life, so central, I think the shock lasts for many years.”