A man who made it to the top
The famous column is of course the one dedicated to Horatio Nelson on Trafalgar Square, but the admiral does not stand as high as a much less glorious contemporary: Frederick, Duke of York. The second son of King George III, his early life was nothing unusual for a prince of German lineage. In 1764, at the age of six months, he was made Prince Bishop of Osnabrück. He later married a daughter of Frederick William II of Prussia.
So far, so good – but then he embarked on a military career, commanding British forces in Flanders against the French revolutionary armies in 1793. After initial successes, he retreated to Hanover, the historic family seat, and sailed home in 1795 without having accomplished much. His father rewarded these exploits by making the Duke of York a field marshal and commander-in-chief of the army. In 1799 his expedition to the Netherlands was so calamitous that he was forced to withdraw after three months. The campaign gave rise to the children’s rhyme: »The Grand Old Duke of York, he had ten thousand men, he marched them up to the top of the hill and he marched them down again.«
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Address Waterloo Place, SW1Y 5AH | Public Transport Charing Cross (Bakerloo, Northern Line) | Tip The café on the lower floor of the National Gallery on Trafalgar Square serves light meals and tempting cakes, the adjacent restaurant finer food in stylish surroundings.
Back in England, things scarcely improved. His mistress felt obliged to cover household expenses by selling officers’ patents, as her royal lover had squandered huge sums on horses. The ensuing scandal forced the Duke to resign his command. He has nevertheless earned praise from army historians for his reforms, which are held to have paved the way for later military successes. After his death in 1827, one day’s wages was withheld from every British soldier in order to finance the monument. The Duke of York looks down on St James’s Park from a 42-metre granite column. The viewing platform, once a favourite place for suicide, is no longer open to the public. The statue is said to have been placed so high in order to keep the Duke out of reach of his creditors.
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