New Waxwork Queen Unveiled in London for Jubilee

A new waxwork of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in full regalia was unveiled Monday at London's Madame Tussauds museum in honor of the monarch's diamond jubilee.

A team of 20 worked for four months to produce the £150,000 ($241,000; 187,000 euros) model, dressed in a replica of the white silk, satin and lace dress and state crown the queen wears in her official diamond jubilee photographs.

The new wax figure joins those of Prince William and his wife Catherine unveiled last month in a recreation of the moment when they announced their engagement, plus four other members of the royal family.

"This is a warmer, softer queen. The last time we made a model of the queen was in 2001, so this is a new version and she's slightly older," a spokeswoman for Madame Tussauds said.

The waxwork of the 86-year-old queen is the 23rd to be created by the museum, with the first made when she was just two years old.

Large-scale celebrations to mark the queen's 60 years on the throne kicked off at the weekend with a pageant of 550 horses and over 1,000 performers from around the world in the grounds of Windsor Castle.

Celebrations will also include a festival of boats on the river Thames and the lighting of more than 2,000 beacons around the country during a four-day public holiday on June 2-5.