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Diana Memorial Fountain, London

The Diana Memorial Fountain in London's Hyde Park, commemorates Princess Diana who following a famously difficult marriage to Prince Charles, was killed in a car crash in 1997. The memorial fountain opened in 2004, and was initially troubled by operational problems, which now seem to have been resolved. The memorial consists of a circular stone channel. Water rises into the highest point of the channel, and then flows in opposite directions, running freely, or tumbling and swirling over obstacles before the two streams meet in a "reflecting pool" where the water is collected and the cycle starts again. The memorial is fitting in that Diana herself always found water contemplative. In Diana Her True Story - In Her Own Words she talks of facing her difficulties during the summer of 1988: "Right Diana, it's no good, you've got to change it right round, this publicity, you've got to grow up and be responsible. You've got to understand that you can't do what other 26 and 27 year olds are doing. You've been chosen to do a position so you must adapt to that position and stop fighting it. I remember my conversation so well, sitting by water. I always sat by water when contemplating" (quoted in Diana Her True Story - In Her Own Words by Andrew Morton P64).

 

I visited on a cool Autumn day in 2005, and for a while was the only person there, apart from a young man with a walkie talkie who I assume was watching over the place. Weary after a long photography trip around London, it was very affecting to sit on the smooth stone of the channel and watch the water sweeping or tumbling by. The circular shape was gentle, reassuring and never ending, but the water was flowing in different directions around the circle, seeming to break up its closed nature. Diana's personality was famously one of conflicts, an obvious example being her apparent desire for media attention even when she hated it. Less kind commentators have suggested that the fountain is like Diana in being beautiful, shallow and high maintenance. Maybe she wasn't a big reader or a great thinker, but she had a complex personality with much light and shade, and as I sat on the side of the fountain this complexity seemed to be part of what made Diana so interesting, her personality so unfathomable. The water runs in opposing ways, and suggests a person who was hard to pin down. I thought of conflicts within myself, such as... well that's a long story, which we won't go into here. Let's just say it was nice to think of all those oppositions still being part of one person, coming together in a reflecting pool before the water went back around to begin its journey again. Maybe Diana was like a mirror herself, in which we saw our own conflicts.

 

The Reflecting Pool

Directions: You will find the Diana Memorial in Hyde Park. I went into the park at Hyde Park Corner and then followed Rotten Row beside the Serpentine. As you approach the Serpentine bridge you will see the memorial down the slope on your right. Click here for an interactive map centred on the fountain. Try switching to satellite view and zooming in. The fountain looks rather beautiful from above.

Nearest Underground stations are: Lancaster Gate, Marble Arch, Hyde Park Corner, and Knightsbridge.

Opening Times: Open from 10am each day until 4pm November to February, until 6pm March and October, until 7pm September and until 8pm April to August.

Please note annual maintenance is scheduled to take place between 20th and 30th September when the fountain will be closed. Fine weather is required for the work and therefore these dates may be subject to change. Please check if travelling some distance.

 

Access: Hyde Park is generally flat, and has many well maintained paths. There is a half hourly electric buggy service with wheelchair access, which offers tours of the park. Contact: 07767 498 096. Adapted toilet facilities are available.