The twenty-one feet tall statue of Queen Victoria was built in England and brought to Colombo in 1897. It was unceremoniously shipped off to the Victoria Dam in 2024 . The last time I saw it was in the car park of the visitors' centre covered in dirty plastic sheeting To date, neither the British  Embassy or the followers of the British Empire and the great lady are aware of its location or the condition it is in.

In most of the cities in the British Empire gifted a statue of the Queen, they have kept it visible. Countries in Africa, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and India have respected the gift. Sri Lanka has not shown the same respect and has been very negative about this Queen's statue. It is encouraging that over the last twenty years so many neglected colonial properties have been renovated , some however have not been successfully utilized. 

What is sad about this statue in Sri Lankan history is the number of times it’s been moved. In recent times, President Sirimavo Bandaranaike, a raving communist, had the statue moved to the backyard of the Colombo Museum. It has been moved to various low-profile locations since.

Its first location on arriving in Colombo was prime, in front of the entrance to the port/harbour. In 1920, it was adjacent to the Queen's House in Colombo, then in front of Victoria Park, then facing the wall adjacent to Victoria Park, only turned around when the British Prime Minister and Commonwealth representatives visited Sri Lanka in 2013.

The replacement of Victoria’s statue was that of a mega Buddha statue, which was very relevant. There is another statue of a queen brought into the park: Viharamahadevi, a legendary heroine. The park is now named after her. It will always be Victoria Park to me.

We seek her here
We seek her there
We seek this queen everywhere
If you have any updates on the missing queen, please share.