Four years after being commissioned, the statue of Princess Diana at Kensington Palace was unveiled this week, to mark what would have been her 60th birthday.
The bronze statue, which has been erected in the palace’s Sunken Garden, depicts the late Princess of Wales surrounded by three children and dressed in a smart-casual ensemble to reflect the later years of her life.
Kensington Palace said the statue was designed to reflect Diana‘s “warmth, elegance and energy”, while the children represent the “universality and generational impact of the princess’s work”.
The unveiling saw the Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex reunite for the first time in months to pay tribute to their late mother.
But reactions to the statue have been mixed on social media, with many people expressing confusion at who the children surrounding Diana are.
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“I was a little saddened to see the kids statue were not Will and Harry,” wrote one person on Twitter.
“But then it would be a little weird if they were really their mini statues but it’s weirder that their mum’s statue is accompanied by random children.”
One person thought they might have been chosen to represent her efforts as a mother, writing: “Who are the children with Diana? Is this statue supposed to portray her as a kind of universal mother?”
Another teased: “How very 2021 that Wills has transitioned into a BAME boy & Harry has chosen to identify as a young girl in the #DianaStatue.”
Other people focused on the outfit that had been chosen for Diana’s statue.
The late princess was renowned for her bold and colourful ensembles during the 1980s and 1990s. However, the statue shows her dressed in a classic look, comprising a high-waisted pencil skirt and an open-collared pleated shirt that is said to have been based on a 1993 Christmas card.
“Sorry but the Diana statue should be wearing the revenge dress,” tweeted one person in reference to the famous velvet gown she wore the night Prince Charles confessed to having an affair with Camilla Parker-Bowles.
“I have several critiques of the Princess Diana statue but the main one is that the outfit they put her in sucks,” wrote one person. “Should have been the bike shorts and Harvard sweatshirt.”
Other critics simply argued that the statue portrayed the princess looking unusually stern.
“Not keen on Diana statue - doesn’t look like her or portray her warmth and compassion,” one person wrote.
