equestrian statue of William III

William III, Prince of Orange, ascended the English throne in 1688 following the overthrow of James II in the Glorious Revolution. William ruled jointly with his wife, Mary, James's daughter, until her death in 1694, and then solely until his own death in 1702. In 1697 the first proposal had been made to erect a statue in the king's honour in St James's Square, home to many of his strongest supporters. Nothing was done, however, and two further attempts to revive the plan, in 1710 and 1721, also failed. The statue was originally sited in the middle of an octagonal pool, but this was drained in the 19th century.

The sculpture is in bronze and depicts William in the style of a Roman general. It is heavily influenced by the earlier equestrian statue of William undertaken by Rysbrack and erected in Bristol in 1736. The king is depicted astride a "spirited" horse and, despite his Classical style of dress, William's hairstyle follows late 17th century fashion. Jo Darke, in her history of English and Welsh monuments, suggests that the base of the statue includes a depiction of the molehill, over which William's horse Sorrel stumbled at Hampton Court, leading to the king's death from complications of pneumonia. Panels on either side of the plinth carry inscriptions in bronze lettering, the first reading…