The other day, I spent many an hour in Kensington Palace, Kensington Garden and Hyde Park. So many hours in fact that I have many pages and pages of exciting tales for you! So I have decided to split them into several brillant and compelling episodes.
First, the Albert Memorial.
I wandered through the south gate of the Kensington Gardens, on a beautiful and uncharacteristically sunny October day, past the rollerbladers (who apparently had not been informed that the 90's were over), I came upon the stunning memorial to Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria:
This is a Taj Mahal kind of monument - Albert and Victoria are clearly one of the greatest love stories of all time. I don't think anyone can deny that putting up a masive gold statute of your husband screams "I love you" (the gold actually had to be covered up during the Second World War for fear it would attract German planes). Victoria was devastated when he died after 21 years of marriage, and never really recovered. However, the monument isn't about Victoria (more on her later), but its about Albert. Here he is up close (sorry about the scaffolding):
One of Albert's greatest qualities was that he was hugely supportive of Queen Victoria but, at the same time, managed to maintain his own interests and projects. He was a great supporter of public causes, especially health care and education - the fact that all nine of his children survived to adulthood, an extremely remarkable feat, was attributed to his modern ideas on health care. He was also a leading figure in the creation of the Great Exhibition of 1851, celebrating innovation and culture. The monument reflects this - Albert is flanked by friezes of areas of development, like agriculture and engineering. He also wasn't unfortunate looking. He was also rather modest, as he had told his wife not to put up any statues of him after he died. However, if anyone deserves a proverbially large gold statue dedicated to him, I think its Albert - the greatest combination of husband and best friend.
Oh Alice how I have missed your witty conversation across the office. I have been inspired by your ruminations on Albert and have decided to erect a gold statue of my husband if he should pass before I do (Oh by the way -it's Rangimarie!)
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