AIBU - Princess Diana new statue

[ForeverAintEnough3]

She was a style icon yet she’s in one of those frumpy waist belts that were only in fashion briefly. The face does nothing to represent how beautiful she was. It’s too harsh.

@toffeebutterpopcorn

I might take a mosey past it on my way to the shops on the weekend. See what it looks like on real life.

And can I ask - when they do my statue can you please just get something abstract done? Ta.

You don't want to end up looking like that Mary Wollstonecraft. I mean, fuck me, that was a shocker.

@BakedBiscuit

I love that they made the statue ethnically diverse! Really moving forward in the right direction, that would not have happened without Megan.

I absolutely agree.

@ancientgran

Strange that, we had my father's headstone replaced last year. He died 54 years ago and my mother, widow with young children, couldn't afford much and the one she had hasn't weathered well.

So I know how I'd feel after 54 years and I can't imagine I'd have been any happier 30 years ago.

Still not public art, is it?

@speakout

I dislike the whole theme of token waifs/black children. A little too mother theresa for me. Plus she looks more like a young George Michael.

What is wrong with there being a black child shown? Sorry but your comment is so racist.

@Proudboomer

I don’t think in inclusion of a black child is an olive branch. The statue was commissioned in January 2017 so before meghan and before everything had to have a woke agenda.

Another racist comment. What exactly is wrong with a black child being included??

[quote Angrycat2768]@GCAcademic I agree having the 'diverse' children around her does have a whiff of white saviour about it. Or like shes the Virgin Mary or something. William and Harry commissioned it. They probably didn't see the issue with a statue of a wealthy member of a very priveleged family and mother to a future King shepherding poor black children along as a bit patronising. I think a nice non human form sculpture would have been nice, but I suppose they tried that with the Diana fountain. Why do they need so many monuments dedicated to her?[/quote]
How do you know the black boy is poor?? Why so you assume he is? Perhaps he is just a little boy who took his shoes off to play.

Please take a look at your own attitudes to race. Black doesn't always mean poor, unless you think it should of course??

A criticism I have seen online is that the statue has a 'white saviour' theme to it.

I think the same criticism was levelled at Stacey Dooley and Ed Sheeran in recent years.

What is wrong with there being a black child shown? Sorry but your comment is so racist.*

Because it is tokenism. It also re enforces the idea of black people as in need of being saved, poor underlings -it is a lazy stereotype. It is not empowering to black people.

My comment is far from racist.

Racism aside (stop hiding behind the 'woke' shit, it's not 'woke' to be inclusive and representative you knob heads)...

The statue is bloody awful! She's wearing a terrible outfit that I can't believe she would have chosen in a million years. There is none of her spirit, beauty, elegance or even vulnerability - no feels at all. It's shit.

I think if they’d given the children shoes, the semiology of it might be better.

Some of these comments are so offensive. It did not take to long for the first offhand comment about the black child to start did it? What is wrong with some people?

What is racist about saying the statue was commissioned in January 2017 so before Meghan ?
If it was commissioned before Meghan then the black child was before Meghan and nothing to do with her and was always going to be part of the statue rather than a quick nod to diversity now.
Diana is known for her humanitarian work in Africa with children so as the statue trying to convey the universality and generational impact” of her work, then a black child would be appropriate .

I feel sorry for the random kid statue at the back and have no idea what they look like. Missing the point slightly.......

Are there photographs of it in the round?

I can see legitimacy in the concerns that it is a rich woman shepherding along barefoot waifs of different sexes and ethnicities. It is a bit pied piper, a bit lady bountiful and a bit white saviour.

The not so hidden bairn

The black child is wearing shoes where as the girl and boy behind Diana are not so if lack of shoes is a sign of poverty then it is not the black child being depicted as the or one.

This the photo they based it on- so was a work outfit

Worn even

Thanks @SheldonesqueTheBstard!

What a great idea!

I do hope you will be the very first to donate, Ancient.

Tsk. I couldn’t even make out those shoes. My eyesight is getting worse.

Thanks, Sheldon. I found this one as well. What is supposed to be going on there with the third child - who is he imploring, about what?

I've lost the plot with this. I thought it was Diana aged 60 ffs

The hidden bairn is auditioning for a show.

Or he is pointing at the shoe thief.

the third child - who is he imploring, about what?

Maybe he is saying “Behold the yonder promised land”?