Creepy tributes

Saturday arrived in London, and against all odds the sun decided to put in an appearance. Not that it warmed things up much, but Londoners are depressingly deprived of sunlight, and every little bit helps, especially when it starts getting dark at 3:30pm. Ugh.

No matter how hard we tried, though, we were unable to leave the house before 2pm. That's because it takes my sister forever to get my nephew ready for the road. And THAT is because my nephew is royalty, and must get his gourmet breakfast, morning snack, lunch, and light exercise (and associated bowel movement) before he agrees to remain stationary long enough to be put into a stroller. I took my revenge on him, though, by bundling him up so tight that he wasn't able to move an inch for the rest of the time we were out.


We spent the day walking around the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge, and then heading over to see the Parliament buildings and Big Ben. I know I'll be back in London again, and I want to take tours of these places to learn some of the history behind them. That's one thing London has in excess supply - history. Outside of the Mediterranean countries, there are few places that can boast continuous civilization for millenia, not just centuries. London is one of them. Construction on the Tower of London, for example, started in 1078 and Westminster Abbey was built in 1045. These are old places which have withstood countless footfalls, from those of peasant farmers, to empire kings, to ... me. That was a cool feeling.


No trip to London would be complete without a visit to Harrod's, that iconic shopping mega-destination that is one of the largest department stores in the world. Although a pioneering British shopping icon, since 1985 the department store has been owned by Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Fayed. Fayed's name is famous not just because of his financial empire, but also because of his son Dodi Fayed's romantic association with Princess Diana. Which is where the creepiness begins. Since their death in a 1997 Paris car crash, Dodi and Diana have been memorialized at Harrod's by way of some strange tributes.

The first is a whimsical cast iron statue, showing Dodi and Diana dancing happily with what looks like a seagull, and with an inscription that reads, "Innocent Victims."


The second is a shrine built on the lower level of the store, with soft-focus shots of Dodi and Diana looking down upon the public. As if this wasn't weird enough, there is glass case front and center at the shrine which contains:

• A wine glass with visible lipstick marks, supposedly the last dinner vessel to touch the lips of Diana.

• A huge ring, with a mega-diamond rock stuck in the middle, supposed to be the engagement ring that Dodi purchased for Diana the day before their deaths.

The entire display evoked a sad feeling. Maybe this was a father's heartfelt way to grieve for his son and daughter-in-law to be, but instead it comes across as a kitschy way of shoving a conspiracy crusade in the faces of passersby (Mohamed Fayed has repeatedly claimed that the death of Dodi and Diana was planned at the highest levels of the British monarchy, with involvement of the British Secret Service).

Our visit to Harrod's was shortlived - the massive crowds eventually got to all of us, including my nephew, who by this time had managed to break free of his bonds. With his umpteenth diaper change starting to fray at my sister's nerves, I wisely recommended that we head back home and call it a night.