by Alex David
The royal grounds were initially opened to the public in the mid-18th century, but only on Saturdays and only to those who were respectfully dressed. General admission was granted to all in the 19th century. In 1997 Kensington Gardens was the main site of mourning for the death of Diana, Princess of Wales—who had lived in Kensington Palace—with thousands of flowers laid at the
southwestern edge of the park in front of her former home.
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Features: Kensington Palace; the Queen Victoria and King William III statues; the Albert Memorial; the Peter Pan Statue; the Italian Gardens; the Serpentine Art Gallery; the Round Pond and the Long Water.
Regent’s Park
Location: On the northern edge of Central London, between Marylebone and Camden Town.
Dimensions: 490 acres (197 hectares).
History: Generally acknowledged as the most beautiful of the Royal Parks, Regent’s Park also started life as a deer hunting reserve for Henry VIII in the 16th century.
After the Civil War the deer reserve became neglected and from the 1660s until the 1810s the area, then on the edge of London, was leased out to small tenant farmers.
The future George IV, when Prince Regent, created the present park in the 1810s by commissioning architect John Nash to design a new space in the fashionable
Regency style. Nash was also commissioned to build a new ceremonial route from the park to Carlton House, the Prince Regent’s palace in St James’s, creating in the process Regent Street. When finished, the park was also named after the Prince Regent. Additional formal gardens were laid in the 1930s, but in essence the park today remains as Nash envisioned it. It was first opened to the public by William IV in the 1830s.
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Features: Queen Mary’s Gardens; the Boating Lake; the Open Air Theatre; sports grounds; the London Zoo
occupies the northeastern corner of the park.
Greenwich Park
Location: Greenwich, South-East London.
Dimensions: 180 acres (73 hectares).
History: The oldest of the Royal Parks, Greenwich was first created by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, uncle of King Henry VI, from 1427 onwards. It later passed
through the hands of Queen Margaret of Anjou, the
Yorkist Kings, and finally Henry VII in the 1480s who built the Palace of Placentia on its grounds. Henry VIII, Mary I and Elizabeth I were all born in that palace and greatly favoured the park which was filled with deer for hunting.
Legend says that Sir Walter Raleigh laid down his cloak over a puddle for Queen Elizabeth I while walking in the park one day. King James I enclosed the park with a brick wall in the early 17th century, much of which still exists.
Charles II commissioned a redesign of the park in the 1660s-1670s and also built the Royal Observatory on a hill in the eastern portion of the park. The park was first opened to pensioners from the Royal Naval Hospital
nearby in the 18th century, and to the general public afterwards. The Prime Meridian line that marks
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Longitude 0 and established Greenwich Mean time
passes through the park and takes its name from it.
Features: The National Maritime Museum; the Queen’s House; the Royal Observatory; the Prime Meridian;
Queen Elizabeth’s oak; flower gardens; deer herds.
Bushy Park
Location: Between Kingston upon Thames and
Hampton, South-West London.
Dimensions: 1,100 acres (445 hectares).
History: The land making up this large, semi-rural park in the London suburbs was first seized by Henry VIII from Cardinal Wolsey in 1529, together with the palace of Hampton Court nearby. Henry turned it into a deer
hunting reserve, and although hunting is no longer
practiced today both red deer and fallow deer still roam the park. King Charles I brought water to the Park in 1638-39 by building a 12-mile canal from the river Colne west of London in order to supply water to Hampton
Court Palace, a massive engineering feat for the time.
Christopher Wren later embellished the park by using the water canal to build the Diana Fountain, and he also created Chestnut Avenue as a ceremonial route to the north entrance to Hampton Court. The future William IV
served as Ranger of Bushy Park for twenty years before he became king and lived at Bushy House on the northern 706
side of the park. During the Second World War the park housed temporary headquarters for General
Eisenhower’s Allied Expeditionary Forces.
Features: The Diana Fountain; Chestnut Avenue; Bushy House; the USAAF Memorial; water gardens; herds of red deer and fallow deer.
Richmond Park
Location: Between Richmond, Wimbledon and Kingston upon Thames, South-West London.
Dimensions: 2,500 acres (1,010 hectares).
History: The largest Royal Park in London had its origins in the royal manor of Sheen owned by the Plantagenet kings outside the capital. The Park was initially enclosed in 1637 by Charles I who introduced 2,000 deer to use as a hunting reserve. He also built eight miles of brick walls to enclose the park, most of which still stand, though he preserved the people’s right of way through the park.
When Princess Amelia, daughter of King George II, was made Ranger of Richmond Park in the 1750s she tried to stop public access into the park but was taken to court by the citizens of Richmond who won the case against her, and the park has been open to the public ever since.
Vistas, ponds and other features were added to the park in the 18th century and it has remained relatively
unchanged since then. Several royal residences have 707
been built in the park since the 18th century. White Lodge was completed by George II in 1730 and was the home of Queen Mary’s family, the Tecks, in the 19th century.
Thatched House Lodge currently serves as the residence of Princess Alexandra.
Features: King’s Henry’s Mound with views of London and St Paul’s Cathedral; White Lodge; Pembroke Lodge; Isabella Plantation; the Pen Ponds; herds of red deer and fallow deer.
Other Royal Parks
There are two more parks in London that are owned by the Crown but that are not part of the official Royal Parks:
Hampton Court Park, next to Bushy Park, is part of the Hampton Court Palace estate and is managed by Historic Royal Palaces. The park covers 700 acres and is open to the public separately from the Palace’s visiting hours.
Amenities include The Long Water, the Golden Jubilee Fountain and other ponds. The park has been opened to the public since 1894, and since 1990 has been the site of the yearly Hampton Court Flower Show, currently the biggest flower show in the world.
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Buckingham Palace Gardens are the private grounds of Buckingham Palace. They cover 42 acres and are not opened to the public. Parts of them however can be
walked through during the yearly Summer Opening of
Buckingham Palace.
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London’s Royal Statues
The British capital is home to the largest collection of public royal statues in Britain. This includes official memorials, historic monuments and architectural
features. Following below is a list of these statues divided in two categories: monarchs and other notable royals. It only includes statues in the open air serving as public monuments and visual memorials, therefore statues of monarchs inside buildings are not included. They are listed in chronological order of birth of their subjects.
Equestrian statues are noted in parenthesis. Regarding exact location, note that postcodes are approximate as British postcodes only cover buildings serving as mailing addresses, not exact geographical locations, so the postcodes listed below are for the buildings closest to the site of the statues.
Statues of Monarchs
Alfred the Great
Location: Trinity Church Square, Borough, SE1 4HT.
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Edward the Confessor
&n
bsp; Location: Top of Westminster School War Memorial
column, The Sanctuary, in front of Westminster Abbey, SW1P 3PA.
Richard I
( Equestrian) Location: Old Palace Yard, Palace of Westminster, SW1P 3JY.
Henry III
Location: Top of Westminster School War Memorial
column, The Sanctuary, in front of Westminster Abbey, SW1P 3PA.
Henry VIII
Location: Henry VIII Gate entrance, St Bartholomew
Hospital, Smithfield, EC1A 7BE.
Edward VI
Location: Outside main entrance of St Thomas’ Hospital, Westminster Bridge Road, Lambeth, SE1 7EH. Note: A second statue of Edward VI, formerly outside, now stands inside one of the hospital’s main corridors.
Elizabeth I
Location: Façade of St Dunstan-in-the-West church, 186a Fleet Street, City, EC4A 2HR.
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Location: Top of Westminster School War Memorial
column, The Sanctuary, in front of Westminster Abbey, SW1P 3PA.
Location: Courtyard of Westminster School, by
Westminster Abbey, Deans Yard, SW1P 3PF. (Note: the courtyard is not always open to the public)
James I
Location: Temple Bar Gate, Paternoster Row, St Paul’s, EC4M 7DX.
Charles I
( Equestrian) Location: Charing Cross traffic island, South end of Trafalgar Square, WC2N 5DU.
Location: Temple Bar Gate, Paternoster Row, St Paul’s, EC4M 7DX.
Charles II
Location: Soho Square Gardens, Soho, W1D 3QE.
Location: Central Courtyard, Royal Hospital Chelsea, SW3
4SR.
Location: Temple Bar Gate, Paternoster Row, St Paul’s, EC4M 7DX.
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James II
Location: In front of National Gallery (west side), Trafalgar Square, WC2N 5DN.
William III
( Equestrian) Location: St James’s Square Gardens, St James’s, SW1Y 4LE.
Location: South front of Kensington Palace, Kensington, W8 4PX.
Anne
Location: Front of St Paul’s Cathedral, City, EC4M 8AD.
Location: By 15 Queen Anne’s Gate, Westminster, SW1H
9BU.
Location: Queen Square Gardens, Bloomsbury, WC1N
3AR. (Note: a definite identification of this statue has never been made, with some claiming that it represents instead Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.) Location: Market House, Market Place, Kingston upon Thames, South London, KT1 1JS.
George I
Location: Atop the spire of St George’s Church,
Bloomsbury, WC1A 2SA.
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George II
Location: Golden Square, Soho, W1F 9DJ.
Location: Main Esplanade, Old Royal Naval College,
Greenwich, SE10 9NN.
George III
Location: Courtyard of Somerset House, Strand, WC2R
0RN.
(Equestrian) Location: Corner of Pall Mall and Cockspur Street, Westminster, SW1Y 5DL.
George IV
(Equestrian) Location: Trafalgar Square, Westminster, WC2N 5DS
William IV
Location: North Entrance of National Maritime Museum, off King William’s Walk, Greenwich, SE10 9NF.
Victoria
Location: Victoria Memorial, in front of Buckingham Palace, SW1A 1AA.
Location: East front of Kensington Palace, Kensington Gardens, W8 4PX.
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Location: Temple Bar Memorial, Fleet Street/Strand, EC4Y
1BD.
Location: North entrance of Blackfriars Bridge, City, EC4V
4DY.
Location: Entrance of 14-15 Carlton House Terrace, St James’s, SW1Y 5AH.
Location: Victoria Square, Victoria, SW1V 0RB.
Location: Front entrance of Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington SW7 2RL.
Location: Top of Westminster School War Memorial
column, The Sanctuary, in front of Westminster Abbey, SW1P 3PA.
Location: Front of Croydon Central Library, Katherine Street, Croydon, South London, CR9 1ET.
Edward VII
(Equestrian) Location: Waterloo Place, St James’s, SW1Y
5ER.
Location: Outside Tooting Broadway Underground
Station, Tooting, SW17 0SU.
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Location: Front entrance of Victoria and Albert Museum, left side, South Kensington SW7 2RL.
(As Prince of Wales) Location: Temple Bar Memorial, Fleet Street/Strand, EC4Y 1BD.
George V
Location: Gardens between Westminster Abbey and
Abingdon Street, facing the Palace of Westminster, SW1P
3JX.
George VI
Location: Carlton Gardens steps, leading to The Mall, St James’s, SW1Y 5AA.
Monarchs who reigned since the Norman Conquest of 1066 with no public statues in London: William I, William II, Henry I, Stephen, Henry II, John, Edward I, Edward II, Edward III, Richard II, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Edward IV, Edward V, Richard III, Henry VII, Mary I, Mary II, Edward VIII, Elizabeth II.
Note: All statues of Queen Elizabeth II erected so far in the United Kingdom are outside the Greater London boundaries.
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Other Notable Royal Statues
Queen Eleanor of Castile
1st Wife of Edward I
Location: Eleanor Cross monument, forecourt of Charing Cross Railway Station, Strand, WC2N 5HX.
Queen Anne Boleyn
2nd Wife of Henry VIII
Location: Church Hill, Carshalton, South London, SM5
3PD.
Queen Anne of Denmark
Wife of James I
Location: Temple Bar Gate, Paternoster Row, St Paul’s, EC4M 7DX.
Prince Frederick, Duke of York
Son of George III
Location: Atop the Duke of York Column, Duke of York Steps, between Waterloo Place and The Mall, St James’s, SW1Y 5AH.
Note: Commemorated as Commander-in-Chief of the British Army from 1795 to 1809, and 1811 to 1827.
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Prince Edward, Duke of Kent
Son of George III, Father of Queen Victoria
Location: Park Crescent gardens, Marylebone, W1B 1LT
Prince Albert
Husband of Queen Victoria
Location: Albert Memorial, Kensington Gardens, W2 2UH.
Location: Rear courtyard of Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, SW7 2AP.
(Equestrian) Location: Holborn Circus, Holborn, EC1N
2HP.
Location: Front entrance of Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington SW7 2RL.
Prince George, Duke of Cambridge
Grandson of King George III, Cousin of Queen
Victoria
(Equestrian) Location: Whitehall, in front of Old War Office building, Westminster, SW1A 2AX.
Note: Commemorated as Commander-In-Chief of the Forces from 1856 to 1895.
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Queen Alexandra
Wife of Edward VII
Location: Rear courtyard of Royal London Hospital, near Stepney Way, Whitechapel, E1 1BB.
Queen Elizabeth Bowes Lyon
Wife of George VI
Location: Carlton Gardens steps, leading to The Mall, St James’s, SW1Y 5AA.
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Royal Coaches
Royal Family members make use of many forms of
transport to travel to and from engagements, however the most popular form of transport are the royal
ceremonial coaches. These are horse-drawn carriages employed at most state and formal occasions, some of which have been in use for over a century. Besides
allowing the Royal Family to travel in traditional pomp and style, these ceremonial coaches also allow the public a better view of the Royal Family.
There are over 100 coaches and carriages available to the Royal Household. The most famous and most frequently used coaches are describe
d below, in chronological order of their creation. They are all housed in the Royal Mews of Buckingham Palace, London, where they can be
viewed by the public.
The Gold State Coach
The oldest, most important and most magnificent of the ceremonial coaches is the Gold State Coach,
commissioned by King George III in 1762. Built to