Queen Elizabeth calls Steven Marshall, Hieu Van Le | Alds

Buckingham Palace released an edited version of a conversation between the 94-year-old monarch, Premier Steven Marshall and Governor Hieu Van Le that took place last week. The trio discussed COVID-19 and a new statue of the Queen in Adelaide.

Sculptor Robert Hannaford installed a life-size bronze statue of the monarch on the grounds of Government House late last year.

When Mr Le told the Queen the statue was the “most popular place for people to take photographs”, the monarch laughed and said, “Oh, really!”

“They feel very close to you, through standing in front of this statue,” Mr Le said.

“I would think possibly it might be quite alarming to suddenly see it out of the window,” the Queen joked after seeing footage of the statue.

“You’d think, ‘Gracious, has she arrived here unexpectedly’!”

Mr Hannaford, who held a 30-minute sitting with the Queen at Windsor Castle for the commission, told the monarch during the video call it was a “great honour” to present the Queen with a scale model of the statue.

“That’s very kind. I’m glad it’s not quite as big as the original,” she joked.

The statue is the third of the monarch in Australia, joining those installed in the grounds of Parliament House in Canberra and Government House in Brisbane.

During the call, the Queen was also briefed on the state’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout for frontline workers.

Mr Marshall told of his pride in how South Australians had worked together and followed directions during COVID-19 restrictions, allowing for the Adelaide Arts Festival and Fringe to go ahead as “the biggest events in the world” this year.

A palace statement said the Queen also heard from the Governor about the “recovery from drought and bushfires in the area at the start of 2020”.

“ … And from the Premier about how co-operation between health services, police, government – and the resilience of the Australian people – has been instrumental in their frontline response to the pandemic,” the statement read.