This sculpture depicts The Lion of England, one of the Queen's Beasts. 

The original Queen’s Beasts were a set of ten heraldic statues produced by the Ministry of Works for the coronation ceremony of Queen Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953 by renowned sculptor James Woodford.

It was ultimately decided that they would be gifted to one of the Commonwealth governments and Canada was offered the Beasts. They accepted the offer in 1959 and they now stand in the Canadian Museum of History in Quebec. In 1956 a replica set of Beasts were made in Portland stone once again by James Woodford and donated to Kew. It is these sculptures that visitors to the gardens are greeted with when approaching the main entrance of the Palm House.

The Lion of England is the crowned golden lion of England, which has been one of the supporters of the Royal Arms since the reign of Edward IV (1461–1483). It supports a shield showing the Arms of the United Kingdom as they have been since Queen Victoria's accession in 1837. In the first and last quarters of the shield are the lions of England, taken from the arms of Richard I "The Lionheart" (1157–1199). The lion and tressure (armorial border) of Scotland appear in the second, and the harp of Ireland is in the third.