I can think of a time when a statue of George Washington would not have been especially appreciated in London. It may have even become the focal point of a bonfire. However this particular one was donated by the Commonwealth of Virginia "to the people of Great Britain and Ireland" in 1921. This was of course after those people and the Commonwealth of Virginia (and fortysomething other states at the time) fought arm in arm in the First World War.

It's probably safe to assume that the wounds of 1776 (and 1812, come to that) had healed by then.