The King George V Memorial is a memorial in

Kings Domain Kings Domain is an area of parklands in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It surrounds Government House Reserve, the home of the governors of Victoria, the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, and the Shrine Reserve incorporating the Shrine of Remembrance ...

in Melbourne, Australia. It stands nearby the

Sidney Myer Music Bowl The Sidney Myer Music Bowl is an outdoor bandshell performance venue in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is located in the lawns and gardens of Kings Domain on Linlithgow Avenue close to the Arts Centre and the Southbank entertainment prec ...

, and features bronze statues of King

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w ...

on its east side and

Britannia The image of Britannia () is the national personification of United Kingdom, Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used by the Romans in classical antiquity, the Latin was the name variously appli ...

on its west. Commissioned in 1936 and created by William Leslie Bowls and unveiled in June 1952 after its construction was delayed by

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, it has been the subject of protest and vandalism, including the removal of the George V statue's head in 2024.

Description

There are two

bronze statue Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloids (su ...

s on the monument; on the east face stands King George V, wearing full garter robes and the

Imperial State Crown The Imperial State Crown is the state crown of the British monarch. Based on the design of Queen Victoria's Crown of 1838, which had fallen into disrepair, it was made in 1937 for the coronation of King George VI. The crown remains in use today ...

, and holding his ceremonial sceptre and orb. His statue stood at and weighed 2.5 tonnes. The western face features a statue representing Maternal Britannia, who holds a

cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

in her hands as well as an

olive branch The olive branch, a ramus of '' Olea europaea'', is a symbol of peace. It is generally associated with the customs of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, and is connected with supplication to divine beings and persons in power. Likewise, it is f ...

, symbolising love and peace. Two children, who represent the

Dominion A dominion was any of several largely self-governance, self-governing countries of the British Empire, once known collectively as the ''British Commonwealth of Nations''. Progressing from colonies, their degrees of self-governing colony, colon ...

s and

Colonies A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their '' metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often or ...

living in peace under British rule, are positioned next to her. The statues are accompanied by

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

and

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

fluted columns, measuring at their highest, as well as two additional small sandstone heraldic statues of a

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...

and a

unicorn The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since Classical antiquity, antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn (anatomy), horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unico ...

on either side to the north and south respectively. These each hold a shield showing the armorial bearings of King George V. The monument is surrounded by

bluestone Bluestone is a cultural or commercial name for a number of natural dimension stone, dimension or building stone varieties, including: * basalt in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, and in New Zealand * diabase, dolerites in Tasmania, ...

paving slabs, with two sets of seven-step stairs on the west and east side.

History

Creation

The memorial was created by artist Leslie Bowles. Following the death of George V in 1936, Bowles was commissioned for the monument in 1937 after submitting a design to the King George V Memorial Fund committee and being chosen from 33 different designs. At this point, the committee expected that the statue would cost £14,000 and take two years to complete. However, the outbreak of World War II delayed its construction significantly, and so the monument was unveiled in July 1952, funded by public subscription and by council.

2024 vandalism and decapitation

In the early hours of Monday 10 June 2024, the

King's Official Birthday The King's Official Birthday or Queen's Official Birthday is the selected day in most Commonwealth realms on which the birthday of Monarchy of the United Kingdom, the monarch is officially celebrated in those countries. It does not necessarily ...

, the George V statue on the monument was beheaded, and red paint was thrown onto it. A video of the incident posted online showed a person wearing a high-vis jacket and head torch sawing off the head with a mechanical saw, causing it to tumble onto the ground, as well as a person wearing a dark-coloured hoodie

spray painting Spray painting is a painting technique in which a device sprays coating material (paint, ink, varnish, etc.) through the air onto a surface. The most common types employ compressed gas—usually air compressor, air—to atomize and direct the pa ...

the words "the colony will fall" over part of the statue. The video, which was soundtracked by the

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...

' "

God Save The Queen "God Save the King" ("God Save the Queen" when the monarch is female) is '' de facto'' the national anthem of the United Kingdom. It is one of two national anthems of New Zealand and the royal anthem of the Isle of Man, Australia, Canada and ...

", ends with the caption "Happy birthday motherfucker". Police were called just after 9am on Monday, finding the statue beheaded. A spokesman for the City of Melbourne Council said that the statue could not be repaired due to the missing head and the original artist having died many years ago. Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Nicholas Reece, said that the vandalism would "not be tolerated"; he said that CCTV cameras would be placed around major monuments with increasing security patrols. Since this beheading, the head was posted on Instagram in various situations around Melbourne. This began on

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet and raising of the Flag of Great Britain, Union Flag of Great Britain by Arthur Phillip at Sydney Cove, a ...

on 26 January 2025; three activist organisations – Whistleblowers, Activists and Communities Alliance (WACA), Disrupt Wars, and hip-hop group Combat Wombat simultaneously posted a video of the head in flames on a

barbecue Barbecue or barbeque (often shortened to BBQ worldwide; barbie or barby in Australia and New Zealand) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that employ live fire and smoke to coo ...

, accompanied by an audio clip of chef

Jamie Oliver Jamie Trevor Oliver Order of the Star of Italy, OSI (born 27 May 1975) is an English celebrity chef, restaurateur and cookbook author. He is known for his casual approach to cuisine, which has led him to front numerous television shows and o ...

speaking about obtaining colour and

caramelisation Caramelization (or caramelisation) is a process of browning of sugar used extensively in cooking for the resulting butter-like flavor and brown color. The brown colors are produced by three groups of polymers: (C24H36O18), (C36H50O25), and ...

through direct heat, and with the caption "Cooking with king. Hot tips for roasting #invasionday #notourking #cooking #cookingwithlove". The head was later posted in a two-part series of videos titled "Toilet King" in which it was filmed in toilets, a comic skit about returning land to

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

. Another featured the head being carried back to Kings Domain in a

Deliveroo Deliveroo is a British multinational online food delivery company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It operates in the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar. It formerly ...

bag, yards from the main statue, soundtracked by

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...

's song "

Summer Holiday Summer holiday may refer to: * Summer vacation The term summer vacation or summer break refers to a school break in the summer between school years and the break in the school academic year. Students are off anywhere between two weeks to thre ...

". On 14 March 2025,

Saint Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick (), is a religious and cultural holiday held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patron saint of Ireland. Saint Patrick's Day was made an official Chris ...

weekend, the head appeared at the final Melbourne show of Irish hip-hop band

Kneecap The patella (: patellae or patellas), also known as the kneecap, is a flat, rounded triangular bone which articulates with the femur (thigh bone) and covers and protects the anterior articular surface of the knee joint. The patella is found in m ...

's tour. The band is known for their

anti-colonialist Decolonization is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. The meanings and applications of the term are disputed. Some scholars of decolon ...

politics and promotion of

indigenous language An indigenous language, or autochthonous language, is a language that is native to a region and spoken by its indigenous peoples. Indigenous languages are not necessarily national languages but they can be; for example, Aymara is both an indigen ...

. The head was photographed in front of one of the group members, Mo Chara; the band stated in an

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

caption that "Some madman dropped by with a huge King George’s head so he could hear a few tunes for our last Melbourne show!", and that "he was put on stage for a few tunes and then whisked away". The head was present at a sound check before the event, and was taken with the band when they left the venue. , no arrests have been made and the head has not been recovered.

References

{{Coord, 37.82427, S, 144.97317, E, display=title Statues in Australia Cultural depictions of George V

1952 sculptures Sculptures of men in Australia Bronze sculptures in Australia Public art in Melbourne Outdoor sculptures in Melbourne Vandalized works of art in Australia