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Diana Memorial
Fountain
The Princess Diana Memorial Fountain in Hyde Park has been unveiled by the Queen who was joined
by Princes William and Harry as well as Diana's brother Earl Spencer at the opening
ceremony this month.
Built close to Kensington Palace in the heart of London the fountain has been placed next to
a children's play area also dedicated to Diana, who died in a car crash in
1997. It was paid for by the Princess Diana Memorial Fund, which also gives
grants to those charities supported by Diana herself.
A large moat surrounding part of Hyde Park,
the fountain is built with anti slip stone so that children can play in the
water. Chief architect Kathryn Gustafson explained that the fountain
represented Diana's life. "There are all sorts of fun things in the
fountain that are turbulent and cascading down, and champagne bubbles, and
total calm, and playful. There are many things about her personality that it
hopes to acknowledge and memorialise."
Unusual, to say the least, this is a memorial without a statue and a fountain
which doesn't even feature spurts of water, but is nonetheless is an
impressive contemporary feature, covering a large area of the park and made
with white Cornish granite. The architects behind the fountain decided that
rather than create something to be stared at they wanted the memorial to be
enjoyed by adults and children alike.
The £6.5 million structure has already become a bone of contention with many
saying that it isn't a fitting memorial for the late Princess and others
saying the money would have been put to better use in building a hospital or
another institution in keeping with the causes supported by Diana. The fact
that the memorial flooded in a rain storm the day after it was unveiled has
not gone any way to silencing critics either.
Family and friends have expressed the opinion that the memorial would have
been appreciated by the Princess with the Queen telling onlookers. "I
think Diana would have enjoyed it and I believe that she would want all of us
to do so too."
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