Two statues of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were unveiled at Canterbury Cathedral today - the first royal sculptures to be installed there during her reign . The monarch arrived at Capel-le-Ferne in Kent this afternoon to open a new £3.5million visitor centre that honours the Battle of Britain war heroes . She then made her way to the cathedral with husband Prince Philip to reveal the figures , which have been created to mark her Diamond Jubilee . Scroll down for video . The statues of the Queen ( left ) and the Duke of Edinburgh ( right ) were unveiled at Canterbury Cathedral today . The statues were carved by sculptor Nina Bilbey , 47 , from Wells-next-the-Sea , Norfolk , and will stand by the west door in the Kent cathedral . The Dean of Canterbury , the Very Revd Dr Robert Willis , said : 'The new royal statues will be a splendid addition to the cathedral and they will be a sign of the high respect and affection that everyone at Canterbury has for the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh . ' She earlier opened visitor and education centre , The Wing , which offers an interactive experience of the story of the Battle of Britain . The building follows the wing plan of R J Mitchell 's best-known fighter , the Supermarine Spitfire - one of the two aircraft credited with doing the most to win the battle in 1940 . The Queen and The Duke were greeted by Prince Michael of Kent , who is a patron of the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust , and Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Graydo . She then met with some of the last surviving Battle of Britain pilots of Winston Churchill 's famous 'few ' at the National Memorial to the Few above the white cliffs in Kent . The statues were carved by sculptor Nina Bilbey , 47 , from Wells-next-the-Sea , Norfolk , to mark the Queen 's Diamond Jubilee . They are the first royal sculptures to be installed at the Kent Cathedral during her reign and it is her first visit to Canterbury in 13 years today . She has followed in the footsteps of her mother , the Queen Mother , who unveiled the memorial at Capel-le-Ferne , near Folkestone , on July 9 , 1993 . A flypast of a Hurricane , Spitfire and Typhoon took place over the English Channel where RAF pilots defied Germany 's Luftwaffe more than 70 years ago . More than 500 of the 3,000 or so men of RAF Fighter Command died in the Battle of Britain between July and October 1940 . Of the remainder , a further 814 died before the end of the war . As the battle raged in August 1940 , Churchill uttered his famous words in a speech to Parliament : 'Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few . ' Nina Bilbey , who was commissioned to carve the royal statues , stands proudly with the finished figures . Nina Bilbey , 47 , is a sculptor and senior carving tutor at The City and Guilds Art School in London . She gained a B.A . Hons in Sculpture at St Martins School of Art before gaining a post graduate certificate in education from the University of Leeds . She has since done a diploma in stone masonry . Since 2000 Nina has specialised in stone carving and has been commissioned for several statues including ones for Hampton Court flower show . She has also carved Gargoyles for St. Pancras Station and Saint Georges Chapel Windsor , and projects for The Houses of Parliament , The Royal Pavilion Brighton and Hereford Cathedral . The founder member of 'The London Carving Co-Op ' , Nina has spent six months working on the Royal Barge and has just finished a major carving commission for a Private house in Cheshire . She blogged about the royal commission on her website as she went along , showing the original sketches , the cast coloured in bronze powder and a half sized model version . Explaining how she made the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh statues , she said that it was very 'difficult getting the likeness and modelling tiny chains ' . She said she spoke to Lady Hussey , one of the Queen 's Lady in Waiting , who provided photographs and advised on how to do the hair . Pictures of the original designs were sent to the palace , which decided that the Prince should hold his robes , rather than gloves as she had planned .
The Queen arrived at Capel-Le-Ferne to open new £3.5million visitor centre . She also met with last surviving Battle of Britain pilots of Churchill 's 'few ' Accompanied by Prince Philip she will unveil two new sculptures today . It is the first royal sculptures to be installed at Cathedral during her reign .