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.

My partner said she should be crouching down to be on the same level as the children. And yes, I agree. She did do that.

I was expecting her to be wearing her revenge dress, that was one of the most iconic looks she had.

I feel like making this sculpter come up with a statue of Dolly Parton just to see his metal. There is a perfectly good female sculptor who did a statue of Prince Phillip and I wonder if she would have captured more softness. I find it too brutalist for what was a very charming vibrant intuitive woman and her fears of being bumped off in a car accident haunt me. I will always remember the day she died and where I was that day.

I'm disappointed with it.
Perhaps it's better in 'real life'?
The next time I'm in London I hope to see it.
William's body language
Harry appeared more conciliatory, he turned more to William.
Diana would be broken hearted I think.

Diana would have sorted it out before it went too far.

Both her sons have a lot of her about them, they will make good in time.

I said it was too masculine and looked more like William

Looks like that spokeswoman clare balding I think her name is

It looks like Fiona Bruce!

I just saw an interview with the sculptor in which he talked about the high level of collaboration with William and Harry. He didn't look happy about it at all, I got the impression that the "collaboration" was more along the lines of bossing him about and interfering!

For some reason I can totally see Harry's influence behind the scene with children It's exactly the kind of "authentic" caring (mawkish) type of thing he'd like.

@Rainbunny

I just saw an interview with the sculptor in which he talked about the high level of collaboration with William and Harry. He didn't look happy about it at all, I got the impression that the "collaboration" was more along the lines of bossing him about and interfering!

For some reason I can totally see Harry's influence behind the scene with children It's exactly the kind of "authentic" caring (mawkish) type of thing he'd like.

Yes I thought that too about Harry’s influence. My impression was that Harry was really pleased with it but William hated it. Don’t know why, but that are the vibe I got.

I think that's rather unkind to Fiona Bruce.

@OutwiththeOutCrowd

It was reported in the media some time back that the relationship between William and Harry was unravelling as the statue was being designed and put together. They could not agree on the design, it was said, and progress stalled. It seems to have been an ill-starred project from the outset. The sculptor, who is very talented, wasn’t getting to work on his preferred subject matter - he is more inspired by the male form according to his website - and William and Harry couldn’t agree on what they wanted.

Looking at the finished sculpture, the composition does seem … off. It looks rather fragmentary to me, as if the elements within it have been put together in a piecemeal fashion rather than being parts a harmonious pre-planned whole.

The puzzling and somewhat jarring composition might actually be testament to what was going on between the brothers.

That’s interesting.

@SirVixofVixHall

Have woken up DH laughing too loudly at “the little Duke of Windsor stretching out his hand” As to why he is doing that, he is pleading for someone to take him away from this mawkish spectacle and put him in his proper place outside a shop in 1965, wearing callipers and with a slot in his head for big, round pennies.

The sculptor, who is very talented, wasn’t getting to work on his preferred subject matter - he is more inspired by the male form according to his website

Yeah, really shows.

Why on earth would they pick someone who prefers depicting men?

I think the sculptor would have been seen as a safe pair of hands. He's done a lot of work with the Royal Family in the past - the Queen's face on coins etc.

But, yes, it does seem a strange choice.

This is from the sculptor's website:

'The choice of the male figure / nude as a dominant motif [in my work] was made quite early when I realised that the female nude had, to a large extent, been robbed of its power by the commercial world of advertising, whereas the the male nude still retained a power that could excite, grab attention and shock. The reaction of the spectator to the male figure was stronger, whether out of competition, fear or embarrassment. It proved to be a potent image. For me, the sculptor, this fact reinforced the work with a greater resonance and meaning.'

Made me laugh to see someone describe it as Ken Barlow.

I wonder if I don’t like it just because it always feels weird to me to see a statue of someone who was alive during my lifetime? Or if perhaps it looks better in person.

Diana found it difficult to see her own beauty in life and suffered from body issues. Had she seen it, I don't think the statue would have helped, which is rather heartbreaking.

I wanted to post a picture of an example of the sculptor's work when he is at his best.

World's gone mad

Yes, but is that supposed to Larry Grayson or not?

Yes, it's rubbish...and so are the random children.

@VerticalHorizon

Yes, but is that supposed to Larry Grayson or not?

I'd say yes!

So we are now getting comments implying it must be Harry's influence that made the statue awful. Couldn't be good old William , or both of them.....just an excuse for more spiteful comments about Harry.

There’s some beautiful pieces on the sculptor’s website. Either he was the wrong man for the job or he wasn’t given sufficient freedom.