The statue of Princess Diana sees her portrayed as a "grim-faced playgroup leader" for eternity, according to her former private secretary.
Patrick Jephson says the committee and sculptor Ian Rank-Broadley had an impossible task, despite the extended deadline and what resulted was a frumpy woman.
Unveiled by her sons Princes William and Harry on what would have been their late mother's 60th birthday, the sculptor shows her with three children.
Speaking to the Daily Mail he said the committee "have plumped for the safe option – eternal mother Diana with children – is unsurprising, too. After all, as Her Majesty said about the fountain: ‘Creating a memorial to Diana has been no easy task.’
"Nor should it be. Diana was not an easy person to define and nor is her legacy.
"If our memories and appreciation of Diana begin and end with her love of children – as the committee appears to be encouraging us to believe – then we do both her and ourselves a disservice."
Patrick Jephson was Equerry and Private Secretary to the Princess of Wales between 1988 to 1996.
More than 100 visitors flocked to Kensington Palace's Sunken garden after it re-opened following the unveiling of the statue this weekend.
