Princess Diana Memorial Fountain

Lonely Planet review

The drama surrounding this memorial seems a predictably fraught postscript to a life that itself often hovered between the Sun's headlines, Greek tragedy and farce. Envisaged as a 'moat without a castle' (reflecting the Princess's supposed spiritual state?) draped 'like a necklace' (her elegance?) around Hyde Park near the Serpentine Bridge, this circular double stream had to be shut just a fortnight after it opened in 2004.

The inclusive design by Kathryn Gustafson initially invited visitors, especially children, to wade in the fountain. But with fans flocking to the site in an unseasonably wet summer, the surrounding grass became muddy and slippery, leaves choked the drains causing an overflow and several people were injured when they slipped on the smooth granite basin.

A year later, the fountain was reopened with a gravel path encircling it to keep the Glastonbury-style mud bath to a minimum, and with park wardens patrolling the area to make sure visitors only delicately dip in their toes. Today there are no wardens around and visitors are managing by themselves; even if it's not quite what Gustafson imagined, people seem to love it, mesmerised as they are by the water's flow both left and right from the fountain's highest point, or sunning themselves around it.