Title:

King

First Name:

Charles

Last Name:

Stuart

Memorial Type:

Memorial - Other

Does the monument still exist?

No

Installation Date:

1675

Inscription:

--

Allegiance:

Royalist

Condition:

Good

Condition Description:

--

Memorial Notes:

Dating from 1633, Hubert Le Sueur’s bronze equestrian statue was ordered by the then High Treasurer, Lord Weston, but not erected. Following Charles’ execution in 1649, John Rivett, a brazier, was ordered to destroy it but instead buried in his garden and made a fortune by selling souvenirs allegedly made from the metal. He refused to give the statue up to Lord Weston’s son in 1660 and either by gift or by purchase, it came into the hands of Charles II. It was erected on its present site, the site of Charing Cross, in 1675, atop of a pedestal designed by Wren and carved by Grinling Gibbons. Every year on 30 January, the anniversary of the King’s execution, the Royal Stuart Society lays a wreath at the statue.