On the south edge of the park, Queen Victoria sponsored two memorials to her beloved husband Albert. There's an overly ornate memorial to him in the park proper, which you're supposed to think is grotesquely gaudy, but most people, including me, just think it's got lots of shiny bits and intricate carvings, what's not to like? Having said that, Victoria does seem to have overdone the grieving widow thing. Her whole purpose in life seems to have been to squelch sexuality and romance out of the nation, so it's quite a disconnect that when her unassuming husband died, she totally flipped, went into mourning for the rest of her life and never really recovered. Anyway, what energy she did have left in her was devoted to building Albert memorials. The more practical one was the Royal Albert Hall across the street, a huge oval concert hall still in use today.