ENGLISH Heritage has been widely mocked online after it projected pictures of the Queen onto Stonehenge.
Eight pictures – to highlight eight decades of her reign – were plastered onto the ancient stones ahead of the Platinum Jubilee.
One shows the Queen at her 1953 coronation, another shows her riding a horse in the 1960s while another shows her walking her corgis in the 1980s.
Posting the pictures on social media, the Stonehenge Twitter account said: “Our spellbinding homage to Her Majesty The #Queen!
“We've projected eight portraits of Queen Elizabeth II onto Stonehenge in celebration of the #PlatinumJubilee.”
The move by English Heritage, which manages the ancient site, was mocked across the site, with jokes at its expense wracking up thousands of likes each.
Something ancient and now pointless that we keep under the guise of tourism, projected onto stone henge
— Alexandra Haddow (@MissAHaddow) May 30, 2022
Replying to the pictures, comedian Alexandra Haddow joked: “Something ancient and now pointless that we keep under the guise of tourism, projected onto stone henge.”
Echoing the comic, Zoe Tomalin said: “An ancient monument whose function is now completely unknown, projected onto Stonehenge.”
While another Twitter user wrote: “An old relic of which nobody knows it’s purpose or why it’s there, and Stonehenge.”
And author Pete Wharmby said: “Something that we have never been able to figure out the purpose of ... projected onto Stonehenge.”
I gotta say, I've never seen a country do colonialism to *itself* before.
— Recreational Dentist (@pbAstronaut) May 30, 2022
Others took to calling the move tacky, while one user joked: “I gotta say, I've never seen a country do colonialism to *itself* before.”
Many took objection to the religious context of the move, projecting the head of the Church of England onto a pagan landmark.
Please tell me you haven’t done that to Stonehenge. A place of the solstice, of ancient pagan traditions, of beauty, of tranquility. Please tell me you’ve been hacked.
— summer rain 🌻 🌿💚 🕊🇪🇺🇬🇧🐝 (@skypanda476) May 30, 2022
One Twitter user said: “It's kinda disrespectful to plaster the head of the church of England all over a historical pagan site.”
Another added: “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.”
