This is the World Athletes Monument, given to the people of Atlanta by the Prince of Wales in 1995, in honor of the then-upcoming 1996 Olympic Games.
The city placed it at Pershing Point, a small park where West Peachtree dead-ends into Peachtree Street just before you cross the Downtown Connector into Buckhead. The park was already a memorial, named for General John J. Pershing, commander of US forces in Europe in WWI, and dedicated to Atlantans who lost their lives in the Great War. It’s one of three WWI memorials in the city.
FUN FACT: The memorial isn’t in the “park” itself. It’s actually across the street on a small scrap of land originally owned by Georgia DOT, who donated it to the city for the memorial. So that land just kind of became an addition to the park.
Although the Prince of Wales didn’t attend the dedication ceremony – that was led by Lord Morris as personal representative of Queen Elizabeth II, which is actually a status upgrade – the statue is more commonly known as the “Prince Charles Monument” or “Prince of Wales Monument” in the city.
Because of that association, when Princess Diana died over 20,000 people came to the monument to grieve. Anyone living in Atlanta at the time surely remembers local newscasts showing the huge crowds of people and a pile of flowers 6 feet high and 20 feet deep surrounding the monument.
In the immediate aftermath of her death, the city allegedly renamed the area “Princess Diana Square”. I can’t find any official confirmation of that, and no maps show that. What I’m thinking is, the city just passed an honorary resolution about it, like one of those where your state’s governor declares today to be “Fried Chicken Day in North Carolina” things.