The Royal Parks have claimed the Albert Memorial in Hyde Park is “highly offensive” because it reflects a “Victorian view of the world” in drawing on “racial stereotypes” in its depiction of people from other countries, according to the Mail. Here’s an excerpt.
Standing at 176ft, the memorial was built by Queen Victoria to honour her late husband Prince Albert in 1872 and has since become one of the most recognisable landmarks in London.
The colossal monument features a gold statue of the Prince alongside four groups of large statues representing four continents across the world. It is these statues that the Royal Park website says draws on “racial stereotypes”.
Asia is depicted as a woman on an elephant, America as a native American with a bison and Africa as a woman riding a camel. The African sculpture also includes a white European woman reading a book to a black African tribesman.
Victorian guidebooks at the time claim this detail in the African statue was intended to represent him “rising up from barbarism”.
The website said: “Though the Empire has traditionally been celebrated as a symbol of British supremacy, many today consider this view as problematic because colonialism often relied on the oppression and exploitation of people, resources and cultures.’”
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, The Royal Parks said this new information was added last year as part of an attempt to “regularly review and update information about our landscape and heritage features, across all our parks to enhance visitor experience.”
Worth reading in full.
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.