Monday 10 December 2007

Rare Royal


At the end of Central Walk in Montpellier Gardens is this statue of King William IV. The statue was erected in 1833 by public subscription to commemorate the Coronation of the King in 1830, although he wasn't King for long. In 1837 William died and leaving no surviving royal children (he had 10 with his mistress!) his niece Victoria became Queen. The statue started out in Imperial Gardens, down the road, but was moved to its present location in 1920. The statue shows William in his garter robes which is apparently quite rare. Montpellier Gardens have under gone a major face lift lasting about 18 months and reopening this summer and, as you can probably tell, the statue has been given a scrub and polish.

4 comments:

Annie said...

He did a good thing, leaving the throne to Victoria. She left quite a mark on the whole world, showing what women were capable of accomplishing. And decorated Christmas trees - don't they date from her era?

Lori said...

That does look like a sparkling clean statue. I didn't know anything about William IV. Thanks for all the info today!

• Eliane • said...

Hmm... seems like he did not like his wife that much.

Web-OJ said...

Eliane hit the nail on the head! Heh! Heh! He does look pretty regal!

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