UNVEILING THE ALBERT STATUE ON HOLBORN VIADUCT.
January 9th, 1874.
On the 9th of January, 1874, the Prince of Wales visited the City for unveiling the equestrian statue erected at the western entrance of the Holborn Viaduct, in memory of the late Prince Consort. At the site an address was read, containing a description of the memorial, and an account of its origin. The ceremony of unveiling over, the Prince was driven in the state carriage of the Lord Mayor to the Guildhall, where between 700 and 800 guests, including many distinguished persons, were invited to luncheon. After the first loyal toast, "The Queen," had been received with all honours, the Lord Mayor said: "I now raise my glass to the memory of the late Prince Consort. 'He being dead yet speaketh.'" The words were spoken with emotion, and the company rising in a body, drank the toast in silence and with every mark of respect.
The health of the Prince and Princess of Wales, and the other members of the Royal Family—including the Duke of Cambridge, who was present—having been given, the Prince responded.
He expressed his grateful sense of the cordiality of his reception, and the satisfaction he had in coming for such a purpose as the inauguration and unveiling of a statue to his lamented father. He also acknowledged the debt of thanks to the donor of the statue, whose name he knew, but who wished it not to be made public. "To the Corporation of London I have to express my thanks for having contributed a part of the statue—namely, the pedestal; and I am sure that the work which we have inaugurated to-day will long be an ornament to the City of London."