@popculturefangurl: July 6, 2004 QUEEN OPENS DIANA MEMORIAL Queen Elizabeth II, who dedicated a fountain in honour of Princess Diana on Tuesday, acknowledged that there had been difficult times with her late daughter-in-law but "memories mellow with the passing of the years." The queen, her husband Prince Philip and Diana's former husband, Prince Charles, joined with Diana's family to formally open the 3.6 million pound (US$6.5 million) oval granite water feature in Hyde Park. It was the Spencer family's first public appearance with the royal family since Diana's funeral in 1997, when Earl Spencer criticised the royals for their treatment of his sister. The queen acknowledged that Diana's death gripped the world's attention. On a personal note, the queen remarked that Diana "made such an impact on our lives." "Of course there were difficult times, but memories mellow with the passing of the years.I remember especially the happiness she gave to my two grandsons," the queen said, referring to Princes William and Harry, who also attended the ceremony. Construction of the fountain, designed by American architect Karen Gustafson and built of 545 blocks of Cornish granite, was delayed by bureaucratic wrangling and arguments within the Memorial Fountain Committee headed by Diana's friend Rosa Monckton. The fountain is an oval, roughly 80 meters (260 feet) meters by 50 meters (165 feet). Water flows from the highest point down both sides; at some places the flow is agitated, at others calm. The Royal Parks and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport provided extra funds when the installation ran 600,000 pounds (US$1.1 million) over budget. #queenelizabeth #princessdiana #princewilliam #princeharry #kingcharles

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