On this day, 16th May 1911, the iconic Queen Victoria memorial outside Buckingham Palace was unveiled.
Soon after the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, King Edward VII commissioned Sir Thomas Brock to design and sculpt a memorial to the late Queen; with Sir Aston Webb also being placed in charge to redesign the area surrounding the monument.
Due to it’s large scale, the project took ten years to complete and wasn’t ready until after the death of the king.
In the image above, Sydney Prior Hall has depicted the unveiling of the statue, which took place on 16th May 1911.
King George V and German Emperor, Wilhelm II, can be seen saluting in the centre. Their wives, Queen Mary and the German Empress stand at the base of the statue with the rest of the royal party.
Over the years, the memorial has become an iconic symbol of the British Royal Family and of the United Kingdom as a whole and will hopefully continue to do so for many years to come