THE QUEEN’s portrait has been removed from Oxford University's Magdalen College after its students voted that the image is a symbol of "recent colonial history".
The decision to remove the 1952 portrait from the Middle Common Room (MCR) was taken by a committee of students, who voted by a substantial majority to take the portrait down and to explore replacing it with “art by or of other influential and inspirational people”.
Any future depictions of the royal family in the common room will now be subject to a committee vote, according to Guido Fawkes, which also mentioned statements by committee members, including one who said the move was not about “cancelling” the Queen.
“This is about our communal space and making people feel welcome”.
Education secretary Gavin Williamson said removing a picture of the Queen “is simply absurd”.
President of Magdalen College, Dinah Rose, emphasised that the students were not representative of the college, but supported their right to "free speech and political debate".
FILE PHOTO: A woman walks past a poster displaying a message of defiance to the terror attack of May 22 at the Manchester Arena, in Manchester, northwest England on May 31, 2017. (Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)