Diana Sculptures

I went to look at the new statue of Princess Diana marking her 60th birthday but did not succeed.

The palace is open all year, the poster claims. The statue is in a sunken garden within the palace grounds and cannot be seen when the palace is closed. It was only unveiled at the beginning of July this year.

So I went to the Diana Memorial Fountain at the west end of Hyde Park instead. It is open but there were no visitors. The design is flawed. It is high maintenance to keep the running water clear of leaves and debris and no thought was given to integrating paths around the installation into the original design. The upshot is there are ugly tarmac paths, the whole site is enclosed by railings and is only accessible when there are park staff in attendance.

In the rose garden at the east end of Hyde Park there is another more satisfactory bronze sculpture to Diana the Huntress. This one was unveiled in 1906. It is by Lady Feodora Gleichen, surprisingly British since her father is Prince Victor of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. He combined a career in the Royal Navy with being a sculptor – no doubt inspiring his daughter in the latter direction. If you were educated at St Mary’s Wantage you will be familiar with his statue of King Alfred in the market square.

Her statue depicts Diana, naked, about to shoot an arrow from her bow; a very different Diana to the 2021 version at Kensington Palace. The latter, from the pictures I have seen, makes her look like an employee of Universal Aunts taking her charges to a railway station. A pity to have two bodged 21st century Diana memorials so close to rather a good Edwardian bronze.