The statue was commissioned in the 1850s, after Thornycroft made an equestrian statue of
Queen Victoria which was exhibited at the
Great Exhibition in 1851. The statue was praised by Queen Victoria and
Prince Albert, and they were involved with Thornycroft's new project. Albert intended the monumental statue to be erected over the central arch of
Decimus Burton's entrance to
Hyde Park, and asked Thornycroft to make a "throne upon wheels". Parallels were drawn between Victoria and Boudica, whose name also means "victory". Albert lent two horses as models, and the statue bears some resemblance to a young Queen Victoria. Albert died in 1861 before the statue was completed. Thornycroft completed a full size model of the work before his death in 1885, but there was no funding for it to be cast in bronze. An earthwork known as "Boadicea's Grave" on the north side of
Parliament Hill was excavated in 1894, although no grave was found, but Thornycroft's son,
John Isaac Thornycroft suggested the site would be appropriate for the location of his father's long-delayed monumental statue, but £6,000 for the casting in bronze was still not available. A committee was formed to raise funds by subscription. The necessary money was raised by 1898, and the statue was cast by the founder
J. W. Singer in Frome for just £2,000, although there was still no site for it to be erected. ==Installation==