The portrait of Queen Elizabeth II in Northern Ireland Office recently made headlines after reports claim some people wanted it to be removed. Now, an academic said that the photo of the monarch is "offensive" because it reportedly tarnishes the United Kingdom's colonial past.
In an interview with Good Morning Britain, UK academic Professor Kehinde Andrews said Queen Elizabeth's portrait could offense some. His remarks came after National Ireland secretary requested last week to remove pictures of the monarch from Stormont House. As per a report from BBC, a spokesperson of the Government said the case would be reviewed in "due time."
Andrews further said there are also paintings of Her Majesty in the building government of India and Jamaica. He added that some people in the UK are perfectly happy with it and people should understand its colonial history. But, he's adamant they've come too fat for those who were offended by Queen Elizabeth's portraits and to just simply look away from them, highlighting the colonial past of the UK.
Good Morning Britain host Ben Shepherd, on the other hand, said there's a simple solution to the problem. He said that if a piece of art offends you, the solution is don't look at it. Shepherd also explained that the portrait was probably there even before the person started working there. After all, many do not know the exact timeline when the portrait arrived.
But then, Andrews fired back and said they've come far too far and it's not 1940, so workers have rights. The academic added that the big part of the problem is that Britain likes people to have their voice, but now that they have their voice, they're being told they are wrong, and they shouldn't have the voice.
Meanwhile, Lieutenant-General Sir Simon Mayall said the portraits of Queen Elizabeth aren't displayed inside the government buildings for art purposes. Instead, they were there to signify the fact that Her Majesty is the head of the State of the UK.
Mayall also noted that it's not the public that should be offended with Queen Elizabeth's portrait but the monarch herself. One of the reasons why she should feel that way is that some of the displayed portraits weren't very flattering.
In a statement released by Lord Duncan of Springbank, he said that portraits, pictures, and other displays were all considered sensitive by the Northern Ireland Office. Also, a report from Express noted that Northern Ireland is currently divided between those who want the province to be still part of the UK and those who don't.
