MPs and peers had the bright idea of a whip-round to buy the Queen two lampposts for her Platinum Jubilee – which she may never see.
The unusual gifts are wrapped in plastic in the Commons’ New Palace Yard, ready for unveiling next month.
But the 96-year-old monarch will have to pay a special visit to admire the £175,000 gesture as she uses the Sovereign’s Entrance in the House of Lords, at the other end of the building, when she comes to state events.
One MP said: “We’re not sure what Her Majesty would do with them.
But if she brings the corgis round I suppose they could find a use.”
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle and former Lord Speaker Lord Norman Fowler decided on lamps bearing bronze sculptures of heraldic beasts to symbolise “the guiding light of the Queen”.
They include the lion of England, the unicorn of Scotland, the dragon of Wales and the Irish elk of Northern Ireland.
And the lanterns are formed in the shape of St Edward’s Crown, the centrepiece of the Crown Jewels.
Sir Lindsay said: “It is only right we parliamentarians mark this significant occasion with a token of our respect, affection, appreciation and thanks.”
The lamps are near a fountain built in 1977 to mark the Queen’s Silver Jubilee and a sundial installed in 2002 for the Golden Jubilee.
The Diamond Jubilee in 2012 was celebrated with a stained-glass window created for the oldest building in Parliament, Westminster Hall.
