Royal Fans Have a Major Problem With Queen Elizabeth's Latest Statue And We Totally Get Why
Queen Elizabeth’s statue was unveiled on Tuesday to mark the special occasion of her 100th birthday.
Statues or portraits that are created in honor of well-known members of the Royal Family often become focal points for public debate. It is mainly because they carry the challenge of capturing both similarity and the legacy of the person in a single work of art. In recent news, a newly unveiled statue of Queen Elizabeth II has sparked widespread backlash, with many royal fans criticizing the officials for failing to capture the late monarch’s beauty and resemblance. While the statue was intended to honor her extraordinary 70-year reign and legacy, critics have now labeled it 'boring'.
Unveiled on Tuesday to mark the special occasion of Queen Elizabeth’s 100th birthday, the updated design shows her as a young woman wearing her Garter robes, replacing the initial idea of portraying her on horseback. This change has disappointed many social media users, with one X (formerly Twitter) user, @according2_taz, commenting, "It’s awful!! It looks nothing like her! Being on horseback would have been magnificent! She led on horseback for many decades; it’s only right that she’s honored and remembered like that! The new design is boring and ugly."
Another person, who goes by the username @FancFay, wrote, "Absolutely horrendous, it looks nothing like our beloved Queen Elizabeth at all. Can we get the one the same as Canada? That is fabulous and very lifelike. This is totally hideous." Similarly, @Brenda20538246 stated, "The late Queen Elizabeth deserves a fitting monument, not some poorly executed statue; it doesn't even look like her! What happened to the magnificent one with the late Queen mounted on horseback? Penny pinching. Who made the decision? Someone who doesn't like the monarchy."
Incidentally, it isn't just the social media users; Stephen Bayley, the chairman of the Royal Fine Art Commission Trust, also called upon the officials to rethink the revised design. As reported by GB News, he said, "The Queen on horseback was what was originally proposed and what we all thought we were going to get." He suggested that portraying the late monarch on horseback would have better captured the sense of grandeur and leadership that has long been associated with her. He went on to raise concerns over the standard of modern statues, pointing to underwhelming examples like the Ronald Reagan memorial in Grosvenor Square and the Lloyd George monument in Parliament Square.
He also went on to raise concerns over the standard of modern statues, pointing to underwhelming examples like the Ronald Reagan memorial in Grosvenor Square and the Lloyd George monument in Parliament Square. Bayley said, "We do, however, have impressive equestrian sculptors. They could produce something elegant, monumental, majestic - all the things we need here, otherwise what's the point?" Meanwhile, despite the widespread backlash, King Charles has praised the memorial’s new design, calling it 'fantastic' after viewing a scale model at the British Museum. He also loved the idea of including the new glass bridge around Queen Mary’s Fringe Tiara, which was worn by his mother on her wedding day.
