Kensington Gardens, W2
Nearest Tube: Lancaster Gate

Queen Victoria (1837-1901) commissioned this elaborate memorial to her beloved husband Prince Albert who died of typhoid in 1861. It was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott and was finished in 1876 complete with gilt, marble and semi-precious stones. It is situated in the southern part of Kensington Gardens.

The four corners of the memorial represent the continents and people of Europe, America, Asia and Africa. And it is also decorated with over 150 figures symbolising some of Albert’s favourite causes such as poetry, architecture, industry and science. And as a result it is as much a memorial to Victorian values as to Prince Albert.

A restoration programme was initiated in 1990 and will finish in the year 2000. In the meantime English Heritage have set up a temporary exhibition, which gives details of the monument along with the Great Exhibition of 1851.