The Real Queen Vic

This is a view most of us see on a regular basis if we live in Edinburgh. It is of course the Royal Scottish Academy on Princes Street and was designed and built by William Playfair in 1822 and was at that time known as the Royal Institution. Mr Playfair was then instructed to extend and improve it by 1831-6. Most people only glance up and see the statue of Queen Victoria occasionally and they might think that there is something odd with the statue and they be right. The statue is not an integral part of Playfair’s design (or even his extension/improvements) and was added in 1837 when the Sculptor to the Queen in Scotland, Sir John Steell was tasked with producing a lasting impression to the Empress of India. He didn’t hold back on the imagery using 23 tons of stone to depict here as Britannia with crown, sceptre and robes (a sketch from the time shows the Queen with a reclining lion but I reckon this was binned for being “over the top”)

Not sure what old Vickie or Billy Playfair would think of the multi-coloured columns, probably would be along the lines of “are we still sending reprobates to Australia?”