To pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II during her Platinum Jubilee celebrations, portraits of the British monarch have been projected on the prehistoric monument Stonehenge. However, the “spellbinding homage” did not go down well with netizens who have been blasting it as “lame” and “weird”.
The world-renowned prehistoric monument is considered as a “sacred landscape” and debate over the use and meaning of the place has been going on for a long time.
Sharing a photograph of the Queen’s portraits projected on Stonehenge, the official Twitter account of the heritage site tweeted, “Our spellbinding homage to Her Majesty The #Queen! We’ve projected eight portraits of Queen Elizabeth II onto Stonehenge in celebration of the #PlatinumJubilee.”
Sky News reported that one photograph depicted the Queen at her 1953 coronation and another showed her riding a horse in the 1960s. The photo showing her clad in yellow attire is from a trip to Mexico in 1975 and another has her walking pet dog corgis in 1980. Two recent images are from the Royal Windsor Horse show in 2017 and a visit to King’s College.
According to the Daily Star, Stonehenge has been a site of religious significance for the pagan community since the 12th century. Netizens were quick to mock the Queen’s portraits and some users cracked jokes while some others came up with sharp criticism.
A user commented, “And did you ask or consider Britain’s Pagan community, to whom the stones are sacred before you did this? Almost certainly not. Did you consider that the stones were erected by our Pagan ancestors eons before the Norman kings? HAVE SOME RESPECT!!!”
Another user wrote, “As well as being a nauseating display of sycophancy, this is an inappropriate and tacky desecration of an ancient monument.”
As well as being a nauseating display of sycophancy, this is an inappropriate and tacky desecration of an ancient monument🤢🙄https://t.co/e7uNzMbG9b
— Sasha Clarkson 💙🏴🟨🟥🇺🇦☮️🕊🐰🤗 (@SashaClarkson) May 30, 2022
“This has upset me probably more than it should do. It’s Stonehenge, a place of ancient pagan celebrations, a place of tranquillity to observe the solstice. We really have lost our way,” a third user wrote.
This has upset me probably more than it should do. It’s Stonehenge, a place of ancient pagan celebrations, a place of tranquility to observe the solstice. We really have lost our way😢 https://t.co/x4Htg8hnYT
— summer rain 🌻 🌿💚 🕊🇪🇺🇬🇧🐝 (@skypanda476) May 30, 2022
An exciting visual commentary on the theory that Stonehenge was a bombastic monument to ancestor worship. https://t.co/PSp1TsLLlU
Conflating a modern British monarch – and everything they represent in the current political environment – with ancient societies who in no way acknowledged any of the political boundaries we currently live with is a disservice to public history. Plays into some ugly narratives.
— David C. Weinczok (@TheCastleHunter) May 30, 2022
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