In viewing the great statue of Queen Victoria in our archive photograph at the turn of the 20^th century, you can see that it has since been raised to a position where it now presides over a public toilet facility (some may say that’s a strange thing to do to a former monarch!).  Unmistakeably, the tower of the Prudential Building sits behind.  Since it was destroyed in a May 1941 air raid during the Second World War, it has been a great loss to the panorama of Queen Victoria Square which, in spite of this, retains much of its architectural beauty.