The Cenotaph, Whitehall of Versailles on 28 June 1919. As one of a series of temporary wooden monuments constructed along the route of the parade, Whitehall's was not proposed until two weeks before the event. Following deliberations by the Peace Celebrations Committee, Lutyens was invited to Downing Street. There, the British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, proposed that the monument should be a catafalque, like the one intended for the Arc de Triomphe in Paris for the corresponding Victory Parade in France, but Lutyens proposed instead that the design be based on a cenotaph. The temporary wood-and-plaster structure had the same shape as
Manchester Cenotaph development, but in the interests of expediency, the council chose St Peter's Square, although it already contained a stone cross commemorating the former St Peter's Church. Negotiations to move the cross were unsuccessful and the cenotaph was built with the cross in situ. The choice of architect was initially to be decided by open competition, but the committee was criticised in the local press when it reserved the right to overrule the result. It abandoned the competition and approached Lutyens, who produced a variation of his design for his cenotaph in London. The memorial consists of a central cenotaph and