Equestrian statue of the Duke of Cambridge

The equestrian statue of Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, stands in Whitehall, London. It is a life-size memorial by sculptor Adrian Jones. The statue shows the Duke on horseback in full Field Marshal uniform. Two bas-relief panels on the plinth show his links with the Grenadier Guards and the 17th Lancers. The plinth itself is made of forty-five tonnes of granite. The statue is worth the journey for its historical connections. The committee was led by Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn. Architect John Belcher proposed the statue in 1905. Queen Alexandra visited the sculptor’s studio in Chelsea while the work was under way. King Edward VII unveiled the statue in 1907 with a large military escort. Visitors find the statue outside the former War Office building. The Duke holds a baton and the reins of his horse. The combined height of statue and plinth is about seven and a half metres. In 2012 a man climbed the statue and remained there for over an hour. The setting in Whitehall places it among other military monuments.