New statue of the Queen and Prince Philip has seriously divided the room
A new statue of the late Queen Elizabeth, her husband Prince Philip and her beloved corgis has divided opinion in Northern Ireland.
The statue, created by Belfast-based artist Anto Brennan, was unveiled in Antrim Castle Gardens this weekend.
Local councillor Vera McWilliam told the BBC: ‘We have to be honest, it does not resemble the queen in any shape or form.’
Reviews of the bronze statue have been mixed, to say the least, with one local saying ‘whoever signed that off needs their eyes tested’.
Tourists who were visiting the castle from El Salvador said the statue was a good thing to remember the queen, but said it didn’t look like her.
Cheryl and Gordon told the BBC they liked the sculpture, but added: ‘I wouldn’t have noticed that it didn’t look like the queen but with seeing it on Facebook and now that I see it yes, it probably isn’t a true reflection of her.
‘It’s just the face, the rest of the character of her looks correct but the face is maybe not a true reflection of her.
‘It is what it is, we all know who she is and what it’s meant to be so I would just leave it the way it is.’
Last year, a statue of Prince Philip was torn down by the council after being slammed as looking nothing like him.
Standing outside a bland office block, the bronze bust was erected without planning permission to commemorate Philip’s 35 years as university chancellor of Cambridge.
The reception to it was so, so bad not a single artist has ever owned up to making it.
One such artist, Uruguayan sculptor Pablo Atchugarry, said it was ‘an abuse’ to suggest he was behind it.
The city planning committee deemed it a ‘confusing’ eyesore that doesn’t fit in with the local area.
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