There’s a story behind the statue of King Edward VII situated in Queen’s Park outside the Ontario Legislature building. In 1877 a huge party in Delhi celebrated Queen Victoria’s proclamation as Empress of India. In 1911 King George V and Queen Mary attended the third Durbar and watched thousand of troops paraded before them as they sat shaded by golden umbrellas. But the truth of colonialism was less glorious, with violence and injustices abounding. When the Indian people declared independence after WWII, the many monuments to British royalty in Delhi were taken down and left to rust in an obscure corner of a park, an unwelcome reminder of the colonial past.

It was Harry Jackman, a Canadian businessman and politician, who brought one of those statues from India to Toronto. The bronze portrayal of King Edward VII seated on Kildare, his favourite horse, was erected in Queen’s park in 1969, placed where the king had opened the park almost 100 years before. Jackman, an art collector, was motivated by the skill of the sculptor, and the beauty of the horse.