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There was a year of discussion about the position of the dog, the prince's posture and clothing and whether he should wear a calotte. The design of the statue of William of Orange gave rise to much discussion. But by the end of 1842 the time had come; sculptor Louis Royer received the final commission. The members of the national commission and the initiator King William II were quick to agree on the choice of this artist. There was only one sculptor in the Netherlands who could successfully complete such a commission: the Flemish Louis Royer.

This court sculptor and director of the sculpture department of the Amsterdam Rijksakademie made his name with a number of large statues in Amsterdam. At the end of 1841 he was asked to make a sketch design for a statue of William of Orange. The statue could not be unveiled until 1848. The work was apparently postponed, although it remains unclear why.

In the middle of the Plein stands Royer's indisputable Father of the Netherlands. This depiction of William of Orange (1533-1584, nicknamed William the Silent) was preferred by many to the equestrian statue (1845) of the prince opposite Noordeinde Palace. The statue did more justice to who William of Orange really was. Here stands a statesman, right hand raised in warning, left hand on the sealed documents of the Union of Utrecht (1579), the alliance of the seven northern Dutch provinces against their Spanish rulers and the basis of the political unity of our country. William of Orange led the Revolt against the Spaniards. This cost him dearly. In 1580 the Spanish king Philip II declared him outlaw and put a high price on his head. In 1584 he was murdered in Delft by the Frenchman Balthazar Gerards.