Splashing around is tolerated
When the landscape artist Kathryn Gustafson presented her proposals for a fountain to commemorate Diana, Princess of Wales, she explained that the work was intended to symbolise Diana’s life. And truly, the memorial is beautiful, child-friendly, expensive to maintain, and controversial.
The fountain was opened by the Queen in 2004 in the presence of Diana’s ex-husband and her sons William and Harry. Installed on a gentle slope near the southern border of Hyde Park, it is not a fountain in the usual sense, but a double watercourse. From its source at the top, water flows in two directions to the bottom of a large oval, where the streams unite in a basin. The bed of the streams, made from Cornish granite, is between three and six metres wide and 210 metres long. Three bridges, small waterfalls and changes of gradient add variety. Grooves, hollows and curves in the channel make the water dance and play. It foams, gurgles and bubbles, splashes up through little jets and slowly comes to rest as it swirls around the lower basin.
Info
Address In the south-west of Hyde Park | Public Transport Knightsbridge (Piccadilly Line) | Hours Daily from 10am, April–Aug until 8pm, Sept until 7pm, March, Oct until 6pm, Nov–Feb until 4pm| Tip The Diana Memorial Playground, with a pirate ship for children and benches for their parents, is at the north-west corner of Kensington Gardens (daily from 10am, May–Aug until 7.45pm, April, Sept until 6.45pm, March, Oct until 5.45pm, Feb until 4.45pm, Nov–Jan until 3.45pm).
Shortly after its opening, negative publicity muddied the waters. People slipped on the shiny granite, and one child suffered a head injury. In autumn, fallen leaves blocked the channels. The fountain was closed for remedial work, including roughening up the most slippery surfaces. These measures seem to have been successful. In warm weather, the fountain now delights London’s children. Adults too roll up their trouser legs and wade gingerly through the channel. Officially, visitors to the park may sit on the edge and dangle their feet in the water, but not walk in the fountain. However, the security staff who are constantly present turn a blind eye while young and old enjoy themselves. Diana would surely have liked it.
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