A bronze statue of Admiral of the Fleet Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma is located on Mountbatten Green, off

Horse Guards Road Horse Guards Road (or just Horse Guards) is a road in the City of Westminster, London. Located in post code SW1A 2HQ, it runs south from The Mall down to Birdcage Walk, roughly parallel with Whitehall and Parliament Street. To the west o ...

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Sq ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The sculptor was

Franta Belsky František Bělský (also known as Franta Belsky; 6 April 1921 – 5 July 2000) was a Czech sculptor. He was known for large-scale abstract works of public art as well as more iconographic statues and busts of noted 20th-century figures such ...

and the work was cast by the Meridian Bronze Foundry. The memorial was unveiled on 2 November 1983.

Description

The larger than life size statue stands high and depicts Lord Mountbatten in his admiral's uniform, displaying his honours including the Order of the Garter and the Order of Merit, and holding binoculars in his right hand. Hidden in the left leg of the statue is a jam jar containing coins, press cuttings and details of the sculptor's commission. The inscription on the north side of the plinth gives Lord Mountbatten's retiring rank, title, honours and year of birth and death: "ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET / THE EARL MOUNTBATTEN OF BURMA / KG PC GCB OM GCSI / GCIE GCVO DSO FRS / 1900–1979". The inscription on the west side lists several of the official positions he held during and after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

: Chief of Combined Operations (1941–1943) and Supreme Allied Commander in South East Asia (1943–1946), the last

Viceroy of India The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 19 ...

(1947) and first

Governor-General of India The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 1 ...

(1947–1948),

First Sea Lord The First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff (1SL/CNS) is the military head of the Royal Navy and Naval Service of the United Kingdom. The First Sea Lord is usually the highest ranking and most senior admiral to serve in the British Armed Fo ...

(1955–1959) and Chief of the Defence Staff (1959–1965). The bronze statue was erected on a small open area on the north side of the junction of

Downing Street Downing Street is a street in Westminster in London that houses the official residences and offices of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Situated off Whitehall, it is long, and a few minutes' walk f ...

and

, to the west of the

Garden of 10 and 11 Downing Street The garden of 10 and 11 Downing Street is an L-shaped garden, in size, behind the official residences of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, 10 and 11 Downing Street in the Whitehall district of the Ci ...

. It is mounted on a Portland stone plinth, on a stone base with four steps, with the standing figure of Mountbatten facing north across

Horse Guards Parade Horse Guards Parade is a large parade ground off Whitehall in central London (at grid reference ). It is the site of the annual ceremonies of Trooping the Colour, which commemorates the monarch's official birthday, and the Beating Retreat. H ...

towards the

Old Admiralty Building The Admiralty was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral of ...

. The green where the statue stands was formerly known as Foreign Office Green but latterly as Mountbatten Green. Public access to the green was prohibited due to security concerns in 2001.

History

Mountbatten was assassinated in August 1979 by a bomb planted aboard his fishing boat in

Mullaghmore, County Sligo Mullaghmore () is a village on the Mullaghmore Peninsula in County Sligo, Ireland. It is a holiday destination with a skyline dominated by Benbulben mountain. It is in the barony of Carbury and parish of Ahamlish. History From the 17th to ...

, Ireland, by members of the

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reu ...

. Calls for a memorial to Mountbatten began in the Letters pages of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' in November 1979; in July 1981 a further letter in support of the proposal was published, which was signed by the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

, leaders of opposition parties and members of the armed forces. The Queen,

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

, chose the location for the statue and the matter was considered by the government in 1982. The £100,000 for the memorial was raised by public subscription. The statue was put in place in October 1983 and the area remained under heavy guard until the formal ceremony on 2 November. ''The Times'' reported that among the 1500 guests were "most of the British royal family and 13 crowned heads from Europe". Before the unveiling, Thatcher delivered a speech praising Mountbatten as "A gallant figure, royal, bold, steeped in tradition yet unconventional, hoserved the land he loved, in peace with tireless devotion, in war with supreme bravery."Speech at unveiling of statue of Earl Mountbatten
margaretthatcher.org In unveiling the statue, the Queen referred to Lord Mountbatten as "Uncle Dickie" and said: This was followed by a dedication performed by

Gerald Ellison Gerald Alexander Ellison (19 August 1910 – 18 October 1992) was an Anglican bishop and rower. He was the Bishop of Chester from 1955 to 1973 and the Bishop of London from 1973 to 1981. Early life and education Ellison was the son of a chaplai ...

, the

Bishop of London A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

. The ceremony was accompanied by the band and trumpeters from the Life Guards, the

band of the Royal Marines The Royal Marines Band Service is the musical wing of the Royal Navy and an independent element of the Royal Marines. It currently consists of five bands plus a training wing – the Royal Marines School of Music at HMS ''Nelson'' – and its ...

, and a guard of honour from HMS ''Excellent''.The Mountbatten Statue
Godfrey Dykes, with programme The ceremony was followed by a reception at the

Banqueting House, Whitehall The Banqueting House, Whitehall, is the grandest and best known survivor of the architectural genre of banqueting houses, constructed for elaborate entertaining. It is the only remaining component of the Palace of Whitehall, the residence of ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Statue of Louis Mountbatten 1983 establishments in the United Kingdom 1983 in London 1983 sculptures Military memorials in London Monuments and memorials in London Outdoor sculptures in London Public art in London

Mountbatten The Mountbatten family is a British dynasty that originated as an English branch of the German princely Battenberg family. The name was adopted on 14 July 1917, three days before the British royal family changed its name to “Windsor”, by ...

Whitehall