'It's not good': New royal statue divides opinion

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BBC The bronze sculpture of the royal couple and their two corgis in the Parterre Garden at Antrim Castle Gardens, surrounded by flowers and under a grey looking sky with trees in the background.

The late queen (sculpture) is wearing a cardigan, scarf and carrying a handbag. She is holding her hands together.

The late king (sculpture) is wearing a suit.

The corgi dogs are sitting down, one is looking up at the queen and one is looking ahead.

A new statue designed to commemorate Elizabeth II - the UK's longest-serving monarch - has received a mixed reception.

The bronze sculpture, created by north Belfast artist Anto Brennan, was unveiled in Antrim Castle Gardens on Saturday.

Since then, the statue of the late queen, Prince Philip and two corgis has attracted some criticism on social media and commentary from visitors to the County Antrim gardens.

Antrim and Newtownabbey Councillor Vera McWilliam told BBC News NI: “We have to be honest, it does not resemble the queen in any shape or form.”

Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council Press Release Anto Brennan posing with his sculpture. He is wearing a khaki sleeveless shirt and beige chinos. He is grey with short hair and a grey beard.

'Hope they got it for free'

Richard is wearing maroon Nike joggers and a black hoody. He has a black beard and is bald.

He has his hands on his waist and is looking at the camera.

Richard from Antrim said that he was "really disappointed" after seeing the statue online and then coming to see it with his wife.

"Whoever signed that off needs their eyes tested. It's not good," he added.

"I would take it away. It doesn’t do anything in memory for her majesty so definitely I would remove it."

Brenda in front of statue wearing white trousers, a navy and white shirt and a cream jacket.

She has brown hair and black glasses and a pearl drop down earring.

She is smiling with her hands in her pockets.

Brenda from Lisburn thinks that the statue should have been "made to look older" but "on the whole it is really nice" and "you still get what it represents and what it is about."

"It caught my eye right away.

"You can see who they are, but I think definitely it should have been her just before she died to capture the whole meaning of who she was and what she represented."

Alejandro is standing smiling in front of the statue.

He is wearing a navy Wimbledon hat, navy waterproof jacket with florescent yellow zips.

Alejandro from London was visiting Antrim Castle Gardens with two friends from El Salvador.

He though the statue didn't "seem like the queen."

"As it is in her memory I guess it is a good thing but it doesn’t look like her.

"The dogs and Prince Philip look nice, but the queen, it doesn’t look like her," he added.

'Leave it the way it is'

The family of three standing in front of the sculptures.

Cheryl is wearing a white stripy jumper, blue jeans and she is carrying a pink purse and brown pair of sunglasses. She has brown hair and a fringe. She is smiling.

Gordon is wearing sunglasses on his head. He has brown hair and a subtle beard. He is wearing a white hoody and blue jeans. He is smiling.

Their son is wearing a navy Jack & Jones hoody and black trousers. He has short brown hair and is putting his thumb up, smiling.

Cheryl and Gordon from Saintfield said they liked the sculpture but had some ideas about how it could have been improved.

Cheryl said there is "something not right about her upper body posture and her right arm but it’s still lovely to see her".

Gordon added: "I wouldn’t have noticed that it didn’t look like the queen but with seeing it on Facebook and now that I see it yes, it probably isn’t a true reflection of her.

"It's just the face, the rest of the character of her looks correct but the face is maybe not a true reflection of her.

"It is what it is, we all know who she is and what it’s meant to be so I would just leave it the way it is."

Francis and Marie are standing on opposite sides of the sculptures.

Francis is tall, has grey short hair and is wearing a black puffer jacket over a blue t-shirt. He is wearing dark denim jeans. He is smiling.

Marie has jet black hair in a bob cut. She is wearing glasses and is carrying a black handbag. Her jumper is white, yellow and grey and her shoes and trousers are black. She is smiling.

Francis and Marie from Magherafelt were very positive about the sculpture.

"It’s great, I think they have it down to the tee," Francis told BBC News NI.

"They’ve got the queen as she's young. I think the two would be very pleased with it. And they’ve got the corgis all round.

"That is the queen, she loved being outside and that’s why there’s a smile on her face."

Marie added that the statue "looks like her when you see her out with the horses and dogs. It's more of her private life, more down to earth".

'It's down to personal taste'

The debate over the sculpture began on the comments section of a social media post by Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council featuring the first photos of the sculpture.

Comments have since been turned off.

The proposal to commission a sculpture of the late queen and her two corgis came in January 2023.

There was already a bronze statue of Prince Philip in the Parterre Garden.

The Deputy Mayor of Antrim and Newtownabbey Paul Dunlop attended the unveiling of the new statue.

He told BBC News NI: "It's down to personal taste, everyone has their own opinion but it is what the sculpture represents that is important."

When the sculpture was unveiled, Mayor of Antrim and Newtownabbey, Councillor Neil Kelly, described it as a "beautiful statue".

Its creator, Anthony 'Anto' Brennan, is best known for his chess sets of prominent Northern Irish political figures.

BBC News NI has approached Brennan for comment.

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