The image — a young girl poised in mid-flight — had been part of her family home in London for decades.
But yesterday, at 68, Ms Lee finally stood in front of the real thing — the bronze figure she inspired as a 9-year-old, cast as Wendy in Sir Cecil Thomas’ The Darling Children Learning to Fly at the Dunedin Botanic Garden.
She had not expected the moment to arrive so abruptly.
Running down the steps near the tourist information office, she suddenly saw the sculpture ahead of her.
"I thought it was somewhere quite different.
"I just remember taking this sharp intake of breath, sort of going ‘oh my God, it really exists’."
Ms Lee, who lives in London, wrapped up her first visit to New Zealand, with a special stop to see the sculpture.
She also gave a talk at the Botanic Garden visitor centre and said a lot of memories came flooding back upon observing the sculpture.
"Oh, it's extraordinary, because I've known the image all my life. There's been a photo of it on our mantelpiece all my life.
"So I've always wanted to come to New Zealand, and always wanted to come to Dunedin specifically."
Completion of the sculpture involved many months of 1967 where Ms Lee had to pose in specific positions for several hours so Sir Cecil could get the particulars just right.
Sir Cecil, as it turned out, lived around the corner from Ms Lee when she was a child in London.
"And round we went to his house, and he thought I looked the part, and so I got the job.
"I just remember him as being extremely kind and gentle and very good with me, because I was 9 years old."
She never got to meet the models for Peter Pan and Wendy’s siblings.
"So it was always a solo session. But it was fun, I used to go once a week after school on a Wednesday for about a few months."
A former festival promoter and civil servant, Ms Lee said Peter Pan had somehow followed her throughout her life.
"We did the play at my school, and I was the understudy for Wendy, but I actually played one of the Lost Boys.
"So it's sort of woven into the fabric of my life, and I've been to see it on stage several times in London.
"It's always been there. It's been something I've been proud of, in a way."
There was a lot of interest in the sculpture back home in London, Ms Lee said.
"All my friends and family are very, very keen to find out more and to see the pictures. It's been good coming full circle to see it."
