The sheer scale of the outrage over Magdalen College Oxford electing to remove a portrait of the Queen from the postgraduate common room can seem on the face of it to be absurd; why should we care what pictures a group of students choose to put on the wall? We didn’t care when they put it up in 2013. Why should we mind if they happen to have better decor available today?
A little digging however shows that, as is generally the case, this latest flashpoint is less about the putative cause and more to do with ideology.
The portrait was taken down because ‘for some students depictions of the monarch and the British monarchy represent recent colonial history’.
In this light, the removal of the portrait represents yet another attempt at ‘decolonising’ a British institution, a trend which has involved plenty of heated arguments over the last few years – see the new refusal of some Oxford academics to teach Oriel College students until the Rhodes statue is removed.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in