Herbert Hampton's bronze statue was originally intended for Williamson Park, but Lord Ashton (James Williamson Jnr.) donated it to the town and it was installed here, the 'administrative heart' of the city, in 1907. That's six years after Victoria's death, a fact which hadn't occurred to me until I wrote this caption. I wonder how Edward VII felt about his late mother being commemorated so grandly, whilst Lancaster had acknowledged his coronation with an elegant but rather more modest Cross.
Notoriously, from one angle the Queen seems to be emulating the Mannikin Pis; given the way she's holding the sceptre, you can probably work it out for yourself.