A new statue commemorating the lives of the late Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, erected in a public park in Northern Ireland has sparked hilarity online as social-media users have questioned the accuracy of its likeness.
The statue, sculpted by artist Anto Brennan, was unveiled this month having been commissioned by the Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council.
It has been placed in the Antrim Castle Gardens, located close to the city of Belfast, which Queen Elizabeth last visited in 2016 with Prince Philip.
The statue was well received by officials, with the mayor of Antrim and Newtownabbey saying: "The unveiling of this beautiful statue is a tribute not only to Her Majesty's extraordinary life and reign but also to her deep connection with the people of our Borough. This memorial will stand as a lasting reminder of her dedication to service, her resilience, and her ability to unite people across generations."
This praise, however, has not been universally shared as numerous social-media users have condemned the work and joked about its attempted royal resemblance.
"[Oh my God] what a shame. A lovely bronze statue of a complete stranger," wrote one X (formerly Twitter) user. "It looks nothing like HRH Queen Elizabeth."
Another compared it to the fictional British claymation film and TV characters of Wallace and Gromit.
"It's it just me or is anyone else getting weird #WallaceandGromit meets the T1000 #Terminator mashup vibes from the new statue of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip?" they posted.
"Thunderbirds are go!," read another comment, referring to the 1960s science fiction puppet series.
Some commenters called for the statue to be removed or destroyed.
"New statue in Antrim Castle Gardens of the late Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip is dreadful. It should be removed and replaced," wrote one X poster, with another adding:
"It looks like they were sculpted by a taxidermist. Philip has the vital expression of a [toy football] subbuteo player, and Elizabeth.... I'll stop there. Art is such a subjective thing."
The statue's unveiling comes as the British government recently announced that a site for a national memorial for the late queen had been selected.
A special committee overseeing the memorial was appointed in 2023, and on September 7, it announced that a site in St. James's Park, next to Buckingham Palace, London, had been selected for the purpose.
The park runs alongside the famous ceremonial route taken by members of the royal family to Westminster Abbey, known as The Mall. At one end stands Buckingham Palace with the national memorial to Queen Victoria, and at the other is the Admiralty Arch.
Queen Elizabeth's memorial site will sit in the park opposite St. James's Palace on the other side of The Mall. The site is not only close to Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and St James's Palace, but also the memorials erected to Elizabeth's parents, King George V and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.
Designs for the memorial have not yet been released. Sir Keir Starmer said, Britain's prime minister, per the BBC, that it would reflect the queen's "legacy of service and devotion to our country."
Newsweek approached Buckingham Palace via email for comment.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
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