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Victoria's life story is the most interesting and no other queen comes close to her in terms of achievements and personality. Her father died when she was months old. She was the only child, had no siblings so grew up without a father and raised by her single German mother (and became a single mother herself later in her life). She skipped the line and was fast tracked to the throne when her three uncles also died early like her father, and became a queen at the tender age of 18. She proposed and married her first cousin the German Prince Albert and had 9 children. When Prince Albert died at only 42, she was so heartbroken that she wore black dress in mourning for rest of her life. A widowed queen turned into Grandmother of Europe because all her children married into different royal families across Europe. Her 63 years as a Queen are the most prominent till date. In her era Britain truly became the Great Britain and not only flourished as a country but the empire stretched from one corner New Zealand to the other Canada. Her name is known worldwide and there are hundreds of landmarks, places, lakes, cities, provinces, currency and attractions all over the world that are named after her. Not bad for a woman who was only 5 feet tall.…
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Date of experience: January 2021
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+1
Appropriately, given their contribution to Great Britain and the then Empire, the memorials to Queen Victoria and to Prince Albert are two of the most spectacular in London. Both are not only splendid sculptural ensembles, but they are linked to urban planning in a grand way that we seem to have forgotten how to do. The Albert Memorial stands at the north end of the series of museums, colleges and other institutions in South Kensington and, being designed in the 1860's, is High Gothic in style. Victoria's memorial sits in front of Buckingham Palace at the end of the Mall and is exuberant Edwardian neoclassical in style. I visited today on my way to work when it was pretty deserted and it was doubly impressive under the grey autumn skies. If you are visiting London, make sure you visit both memorials. …
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Date of experience: November 2020
2 Helpful votes
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We visited this memorial with our three children (aged between 1 and 6), and they loved it. Our 4 and 6 year old sat and drew Queen Victoria and wanted to know all about it. It’s an iconic monument to Queen Victoria right in front of the Queen’s London residence and worth a stroll across the road from Buckingham Palace to see its majestic statues up close.…
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Date of experience: October 2020
2 Helpful votes
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A Beautiful Statue - A Grand Memorial While we had strolled St James Park many times, we were most often cutting through to Green Park, either to, or from Mayfair. In November, we did a bit more of a stroll, and stopped at the Queen Victoria Memorial, on our way to Buckingham Palace, and then to Knightsbridge. While I had seen the Memorial, from a distance, this visit gave me the opportunity to admire it, although with crowds (not sure why they were all there, but there must have been some event, or parade, and we could not walk The Mall, so had to deviate across the lawns in the park). The Memorial is much larger, than it had appeared with my previous glimpses, and in the Autumn light, the gilt figures atop the pylon really stood out. Also, what was left of Autumn color in the trees, added a warmth to the Memorial. I also had the opportunity to appreciate the detail around the base, which I had not observed before. This is a great work of art, with the marble carvings, and then the metal work, both atop, and in strategic places around the base. Lovely to behold, though difficult to really see and appreciate, with the extreme crowds. When we return in April, for another stay at the Conrad St James, I will return, and not on a day with an event, or parade.…
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Date of experience: November 2019
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+1
The impressive monument sits at the centre of a grand piece of urban landscape designed by Aston Webb providing a full-stop to the Mall and a spacious environment in front of Buckingham Palace. With the relative lack of tourists at the moment, it is possible to admire the strident sculptures close up and the designs of the metal screens behind the floral displays in the Queen's Gardens (including one for the NHS) that enclose the larger space. The sculptor Sir Thomas Brock designed the Monument, while the overall ensemble was designed by Sir Aston Webb who also refaced the front of Buckingham Palace …
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Date of experience: July 2020
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