 The statue in 2008 | |
 | |
| Artist | Adrian Jones |
|---|---|
| Completion date | 18 May 1907 |
| Type | Sculpture (Equestrian statue) |
| Subject | Prince George, Duke of Cambridge |
| Location | London, SW1 United Kingdom |
| 51°30′19″N0°07′36″W / 51.505234°N 0.126613°W | |
The equestrian statue of Prince George, Duke of Cambridge is a life-size memorial by Adrian Jones, installed in Whitehall, London, England. [1] [2]
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn was made chairman of the committee to erect a memorial to his cousin Prince George, Duke of Cambridge. Architect John Belcher and sculptor Adrian Jones collaborated on the project. [3] Belcher led on the original proposal in 1905, in which he requested that Westminster City Council should allow the construction of the statue outside Horse Guards on Whitehall. [4] In July 1906, while the statue was being sculpted at Jones' studio on Church Street, Chelsea, he was visited on one occasion by Queen Alexandra, accompanied by her daughter Princess Victoria, Crown Princess Sophia of Greece, Duchess of Sparta, and Prince George of Greece and Denmark. [5]
By the following October, the committee changed its mind on the location of the statue. The new War Office building had opened in August, and they requested an amendment to the permission granted by Westminster City Council for a change of building location to place it outside that building instead. Once again, this request was approved. [4] The construction of the plinth was contracted out to a building company, Pethick Brothers, and it was completed on 18 May 1907. Forty-five tonnes of granite was used, and the combined height of the plinth and statue was expected to be some 25 feet (7.6 m). The statue was added shortly afterwards during the night, and then obscured until the unveiling. [6] It was unveiled on 15 June 1907 by King Edward VII, who had been escorted from Buckingham Palace by a detachment of 2nd Life Guards. He was accompanied on the journey and at the ceremony by Queen Alexandria, Princess Victoria, Edward, Prince of Wales, the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, and Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein. [3]
Other attendees at the ceremony included several members of the 24th (2nd Rhenish) Infantry Regiment "von Goeben" of the German Army, of which the Duke had been an honorary colonel. The group was led by Field Marshal Wilhelm von Hahnke. [7] A variety of British military personnel were also present, including Major-General Wykeham Leigh Pemberton. [8] During the ceremony, the King declared, "The statue I am about to unveil is committed to the care of the City of Westminster." This was unexpected, as the statue was actually owned by the Office of Works. Some two weeks passed before the two offices came to agreement that it would be handed back from the City of Westminster to the Office of Works. [9]
In November 2012, a nude man mounted the statue for more than an hour until he was persuaded to come down and was taken into police custody. [2] [10]
Jones sculpted the Duke of Cambridge on horseback, while wearing the full-uniform of a Field Marshal. It included his medals, such as four orders of knighthood and his campaign medals. The sculpture holds in its hand a baton, this was intended to represent the one which was presented to the Duke's father by King William IV, and in the other hand it holds the reins of the horse. On the sides of the plinth there are two bas-relief panels showing the Duke's connection with the Grenadier Guards and the 17th Lancers. [11]
Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn was the fourth son and fifth child of King George III and Queen Charlotte. His only child, Victoria, became Queen of the United Kingdom 17 years after his death.
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn was the seventh child and third son of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He served as Governor General of Canada, the tenth since Canadian Confederation and the only British prince to do so.
Prince Arthur of Connaught was a British military officer and a grandson of Queen Victoria. He served as Governor-General of the Union of South Africa from 20 November 1920 to 21 January 1924.
Lady Victoria Patricia Helena Elizabeth Ramsay was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Upon her marriage to Alexander Ramsay, she relinquished her title of a British princess and the style of Royal Highness. She was the third and youngest child and the second daughter of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, and Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia. She was also the only one of her father's children to outlive him: her siblings, Margaret and Arthur, both died before their father.
Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife, born Lady Alexandra Duff and known as Princess Arthur of Connaught after her marriage, was the eldest surviving grandchild of Edward VII and also the first cousin of Edward VIII and George VI. Alexandra and her younger sister, Maud, had the distinction of being the only female-line descendants of a British sovereign officially granted both the title of Princess and the style of Highness.
Alastair Arthur Windsor, 2nd Duke of Connaught and Strathearn was a member of the British Royal Family. He was the only child of Prince Arthur of Connaught and Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife. He was a great-grandson of Queen Victoria through his father and a great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria through his mother. He was also a descendant of Victoria's paternal uncle and predecessor, William IV, through an illegitimate line.
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Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia, later Duchess of Connaught and Strathearn, was a member of the House of Hohenzollern who married into the British royal family. She served as the viceregal consort of Canada while her husband, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, served as the governor general, from 1911 to 1916.
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A Royal Fellow of the Royal Society is a member of the British royal family who has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. The council of the Royal Society recommends members of the Royal Family to be elected and then the existing Fellows vote by a secret ballot whether to accept them. The ballots have only a single box to tick supporting the measure; those opposing have to write "no" or otherwise mark or spoil the paper. As of 2022 the Patron was Queen Elizabeth II, and Royal Fellows were:
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A bronze statue of Captain James Cook by Thomas Brock is located near Admiralty Arch on the south side of The Mall in London, United Kingdom. The statue was completed in 1914 and is maintained by The Royal Parks. It is mounted on a stone plinth.
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George V, King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, died at Sandringham House in Norfolk on 20 January 1936, at the age of 70. He was succeeded by the eldest son, Edward VIII, who abdicated that year.
The wedding of Princess Patricia of Connaught and Commander The Honourable Alexander Ramsay took place on Thursday, 27 February 1919 at Westminster Abbey. Princess Patricia, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, was a popular member of the British royal family, while Ramsay, third son of the 13th Earl of Dalhousie, was an officer in the Royal Navy.
