Person    | Male  Born 9/11/1841  Died 6/5/1910

King Edward VII

Categories: Royalty, Seriously Famous

Reigned: 1901 - 1910. Born and died at Buckingham Palace. Victoria's eldest son, born as Prince Albert and known as Bertie in the family, he took the name Edward when he became king, aged almost 60. Before that he had led what his mother considered a dissolute life, with Lillie Langtry and Jennie Churchill (Winston's mother) amongst his mistresses.

He openly enjoyed the role of King and relished the costumes and ceremonies. He was a fashion-setter, making tweeds, dinner-jackets, Norfolk jackets, trouser turn-ups and Homburg hats popular and introducing a short-lived mode for trousers creased at the side. The 30-course breakfasts (his nick-name was 'Tum Tum'), his wife, two mistresses and numerous other women probably contributed to his satisfaction. It is claimed that he liked women's company but his attitude would be difficult to take nowadays. Of his wife he said: "She is my brood mare; the others are my hacks." Another nick-name was "Edward the Caresser". His relationship with his mother cannot have been easy: he could never have matched up to his father in Victoria's eyes and, worse, she blamed him for her beloved husband's death, since Albert had been travelling to see Bertie and tell him off for his womanising, when he caught the cold which turned into the pneumonia which killed him. The Queen insisted that Bertie still go on the improving tour of the Holy Lands that his parents had arranged, with an all-male entourage. Bertie still managed to acquire a tattoo in Jerusalem.

Less personally, he played a role in achieving the important 1904 Entente Cordiale, for which he gained another nick-name 'The Peace Maker'.

His coronation was set for 26th June 1902, but, due to illness, it was postponed indefinitely and eventually took place on 9th August 1902. He underwent one of the early operations for appendicitis, then often a cause of death. Medical staff were on hand at the ceremony and the king was unable to carry out some of the traditional rituals. When he did eventually die his coffin was followed by his terrier, Caesar.

2022: RIBA29855 shows sketched elevations from 1911 by Lutyens of "preliminary designs for a proposed memorial to Edward VII, Piccadilly, London" which would have incorporated sculptures by Sir Bertam MacKennel.  We believe this was one of the options considered for the London memorial to the recently deceased King. The chosen option being the MacKennal statue in Waterloo Place.

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
King Edward VII

Commemorated ati

Edwards VI and VII

At the time gilded lettering incised into granite was a popular technique. We...

Read More

Edward VII

The sculptor's name is inscribed on the stone below the feet.

Read More

Edward VII at Kingsgate Community Centre

Restored, 1913, in memory of King Edward VII, 1841-1910.

Read More

Edward VII bust

While Prince of Wales Edward was Grand Master of the English Freemasons. The ...

Read More

Edward VII statue - lost

Mapping Sculpture, Sitwell and the eBay Centenary Book all give Hampton as th...

Read More

Show all 28

This section lists the memorials created by the subject on this page:
King Edward VII

Creations i

1st Guards

Unusually the model for this statue is known: Webber. Our thanks to his grea...

Read More

Duke of Albany

The part of the building fronting Queen Square was redeveloped and opened (al...

Read More

Duke of Wellington statue - SW1

Statue unveiled by the Prince of Wales. The figures of the soldiers were cast...

Read More

Other Subjects

Edward the Confessor

Edward the Confessor

King of England. Son of Ethelred the Unready. Born between 1003 and 1005 at Islip, near Oxford. He is regarded as the last king of the house of Wessex. Little is known of his early life, except tha...

Person, Royalty, France

4 memorials
Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge

Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge

Born Catherine Elizabeth Middleton at Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading.  Met Prince William when they were both  students at the University of St. Andrews.  Married him on 29 April 2011.

Person, Royalty

1 memorial
Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence

Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence

On his 28th birthday the eldest son of the Prince and Princess of Wales (Edward and Alexandra) and so second in line to the throne, fell ill at his home at Sandringham. He died on 14 January 1892 a...

Person, Jack the Ripper suspects, Royalty

3 memorials
Catrin Glyndwr

Catrin Glyndwr

Daughter of Owain Glyndwr the Welsh hero. Catrin was captured in 1409 at Harlech and taken to the Tower of London with her children and her mother, Glyndwr's wife, during Owain's fight for the free...

Person, Royalty, Wales

1 memorial
Abba Thulle

Abba Thulle

Ruler of Coorooraa in the Pelew Islands (Modern day Palau). His title is variously given as Ibidul, King or Rurack. He and his people came to the assistance of Captain Henry Wilson when his ship wa...

Person, Royalty

1 memorial