Monument to what, exactly?

London wasn’t on my “must see” list when I planned this trip. In general, I don’t like big cities and all the noise and hullabaloo that goes along with it. However, my bestie was there celebrating her son’s graduation, so I met up with the family and hung out for a couple of days.

I took a long walk across Kensington Park to the edge of Hyde Park. In the distance, I could see what looked like a gaudy pagoda with what I thought was a mosque behind it. Upon closer look, I realized that it was indeed a gaudy pagoda, a memorial to Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s great love. (The “mosque” was the Prince Albert symphony hall.) At the four corners of the base of the monument, cement statues stood atop plinths with the names of conquered (née colonized) lands. It was meant as a celebration as the might of the British empire, but it was disturbing in so many ways. The subjugation of people as the cornerstone of that hideous structure spoke to me as yet another example of racist hubris. But there it stands, yards away from a hall where beauty is created and shared by thousands.