Victoria Regina was not here...

If you look carefully, you will see the initials V R entwined on these ceremonial gates to the historic dockyard in Simon's Town, a key location in my novel, The Girl from Simon's Bay. The heroine's father, Solly Ahrendts, probably passed through those gates every day of his working life. The initials stand, of course, for Victoria Regina. Queen Victoria never ventured to the further reaches of her Empire during her long reign (1837-1901), but this period marked the transformation of the small winter anchorage in Simon's Bay into a proper naval base and the home of the Royal Navy's South Atlantic Fleet. The town that grew up alongside the dockyard still contains many historic buildings in the Victorian style.

On a lighter note, I spent part of my childhood up the coast in Port Elizabeth, where I met Victoria every week outside the main Public Library. The statue depicts Her Majesty in grand robes, with orb and sceptre. I remember feeling faintly nervous, as a child, walking past her. She appeared severe, but not so distracted by her duties that she would be unable to see if any of her subjects, scurrying below, were behaving with impropriety.

I have since come across statues of Victoria in many other parts of the world. There were 50 erected in India, for a start. And she can still be found across Africa, Australia, Canada, Asia, and the United States, either in the classic standing pose or sitting on her throne. I wonder how many were made in total? Will any modern figure - tech entrepreneur, world leader - ever be as famous?