MUSEUM officials are hoping a member of the Royal family will unveil a memorial in tribute to the Queen Mother.

A sundial will be built to commemorate the late Queen Mother's patronage of one of her favourite museums.

It will be placed in the grounds of Bowes Museum, at Barnard Castle, County Durham, which she visited regularly for most of her life.

It has been commissioned by the Friends of the Museum, of which she was patron for 40 years. It will be delivered this year, and it is hoped a member of the Royal Family will unveil it next spring.

Friends chairman Lesley Taylor said: "The Queen Mother gave the museum wonderful support for many years. She took a keen interest in what was going on, rather than just being a figurehead.

"She helped out in many ways behind the scenes, as well as performing public duties. We wanted something really special as a memorial to her, and feel the sundial will be just that."

The Queen Mother started visiting Bowes as a young girl when she spent holidays with her parents, the Earl and Countess of Strathmore, at nearby Streatlam Castle.

When she became patron, she told staff that she loved studying the paintings, porcelain, furniture and other art treasures, and wished she could spend more time there.

The steel sundial is in the form of a sphere mounted on a plinth of stone from Dunhouse Quarry, near Barnard Castle, which provided the stone for the museum building more than a century ago.

It is being made by David Harber, of Oxfordshire.

An inscription on it includes the Latin phrase hora transit manet amicitia, which means the hour passeth, friendship endureth.

The sundial will include details about the distances to the Queen Mother's former homes, including Streatlam Castle, Glamis Castle and the Castle of Mey, in Scotland, and Clarence House, in London.