Joan Smith: Manufacturing the myth of monarchy
[Joan Smith is a columnist, novelist and critic.]
When members of the royal family were discussing a memorial to the Queen mother, who died in 2002, I wonder if anyone suggested a giant bronze sculpture of an ATM. After all, the Windsor genius that she is supposed to epitomise comes down to one thing: an ability to extract shedloads of taxpayers' money while being expected to do very little in return. Sadly, this kind of playful, ironic thinking is completely alien to the royals and we're stuck with another piece of public art that would not be out of place (except for its size) in your local garden centre.
I don't know whether reproductions of the new Queen Mother statue will go on sale in the Buckingham Palace gift shop but it resembles those porcelain figurines advertised in colour supplements. After Princess Diana's death, there was a delicious row between the Diana Memorial Fund and an American company, Franklin Mint, which specialises in turning out royal tat; the fund tried to stop the company producing commemorative Diana plates and dolls, a law suit which failed spectacularly and cost £13.5m in an out-of-court settlement. Now, the company makes a whole range of Diana dolls and you can dress them in a "people's princess red cocktail outfit".
The new Queen Mother statue, unveiled by her daughter in Hyde Park, is in much the same spirit. In this context, official and unofficial art are almost indistinguishable, displaying identical tendencies towards sentimentality and anodyne versions of British history. The Queen Mum is portrayed in Garter robes, and British foreign secretaries should be able to see the last Queen-Empress of India on her plinth from their official residence in Carlton Gardens. It's often forgotten that rituals play a vital role in maintaining the Windsor mystique, which is why three generations of the royal family – as sycophantic commentators love to intone – have been brought on parade for the ceremony...
Read entire article at Guardian (UK)
When members of the royal family were discussing a memorial to the Queen mother, who died in 2002, I wonder if anyone suggested a giant bronze sculpture of an ATM. After all, the Windsor genius that she is supposed to epitomise comes down to one thing: an ability to extract shedloads of taxpayers' money while being expected to do very little in return. Sadly, this kind of playful, ironic thinking is completely alien to the royals and we're stuck with another piece of public art that would not be out of place (except for its size) in your local garden centre.
I don't know whether reproductions of the new Queen Mother statue will go on sale in the Buckingham Palace gift shop but it resembles those porcelain figurines advertised in colour supplements. After Princess Diana's death, there was a delicious row between the Diana Memorial Fund and an American company, Franklin Mint, which specialises in turning out royal tat; the fund tried to stop the company producing commemorative Diana plates and dolls, a law suit which failed spectacularly and cost £13.5m in an out-of-court settlement. Now, the company makes a whole range of Diana dolls and you can dress them in a "people's princess red cocktail outfit".
The new Queen Mother statue, unveiled by her daughter in Hyde Park, is in much the same spirit. In this context, official and unofficial art are almost indistinguishable, displaying identical tendencies towards sentimentality and anodyne versions of British history. The Queen Mum is portrayed in Garter robes, and British foreign secretaries should be able to see the last Queen-Empress of India on her plinth from their official residence in Carlton Gardens. It's often forgotten that rituals play a vital role in maintaining the Windsor mystique, which is why three generations of the royal family – as sycophantic commentators love to intone – have been brought on parade for the ceremony...