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The Stonehenge tribute to the Queen for her Platinum Jubilee has sparked a Twitter row as Druids complain that the projected images are ‘offensive’.
English Heritage has illuminated the stone circle on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire with eight images of the Queen’s glorious 70-year reign – from her 1953 coronation to the present – to mark the national milestone.
But the official account of Jeremy Vine’s Channel 5 programme has triggered a furious Twitter debate about whether the tribute is ‘offensive’ to Druids.
Druids are nowadays spiritualists who believe in a range of gods, religious ceremonies and a ‘hippy-type’ love of nature. They usually hit the headlines during the Summer Solstice, when hundreds of them flock to Stonehenge in mid-June to celebrate the longest day of the year.
‘Is the Stonehenge tribute to the Queen offensive to Druids?’, the Jeremy Vine On 5 account tweeted today. ‘Seven images of Her Majesty have been projected onto Stonehenge, to celebrate the jubilee. But it’s a sacred space for druids, so is this tribute offensive?’.
In response, hundreds of people have raged against the tribute – while others have called the row ‘daft’.
One piped up: ‘Seriously? On Stonehenge? A place of worship for Druids? Okay.’
Another tweeted: ‘As a pagan who has visited this intensely spiritual “church”, I am disgusted it is being used like this’.
The illuminated stone circle on Salisbury Plains, Wiltshire, included a black and white photograph of the now 96-year-old at her coronation in June 1953, when she was just 27
The official account of Jeremy Vine’s Channel 5 programme has triggered a furious Twitter debate about whether the tribute is ‘offensive’ to Druids
Hundreds of people have raged against the tribute – while others have called the row ‘daft’
What are Druids? And why do they gather at Stonehenge on the Summer Solstice?
A person looking up as she attends the celebration of the Summer Solstice at Stonehenge, June 21, 2021
Druids are nowadays spiritualists who believe in a range of gods, religious ceremonies and a ‘hippy-type’ love of nature. They usually hit the headlines during the Summer Solstice, when hundreds of them flock to Stonehenge in mid-June to celebrate the longest day of the year.
For hundreds of years, people have held festivals, bonfires, picnics, Maypole dancing and other celebrations on the Summer Solstice.
Many people visit Stonehenge, the monument in Avebury Wiltshire that dates back to between 3,000 and 1,600 BC, on the longest day of the year.
Although people do not know why Stonehenge was built, it is a significant meeting spot for pagans.
Pagans have traditionally believed Midsummer’s eve to be the time when the veil between this world and the next is thinnest, and when fairies and mythical creatures were most powerful.
A third raged: ‘And did you ask or consider Britain’s Pagan community, to whom the stones are sacred, before you did this? Almost certainly not. Did you consider that the stones were erected by our Pagan ancestors eons before the Norman kings? HAVE SOME RESPECT!!!’.
One added: ‘Conflating a modern British monarch – and everything they represent in the current political environment – with ancient societies who in no way acknowledged any of the political boundaries we currently live with is a disservice to public history. Plays into some ugly narratives’.
But others were bemused by the debate, with one user saying: ‘Oh ffs. Why won’t we all just stay indoors so we don’t offend anyone by accident’.
Another person posted: ‘Stonehenge has nothing to do with the Druids of ancient times. That’s a story concocted nearly 200 years ago when folk knew nothing about ancient Britain before the Romans recorded what they saw. Stonehenge was built far, far, far earlier than the Druids’.
One added: ‘isn’t this like projecting her image onto a church? I doubt people would be offended by it as it’s not permanent’.
And another tweeted: ‘Stonehenge has nothing to do with the Druids of ancient times. That’s a story concocted nearly 200 years ago when folk knew nothing about ancient Britain before the Romans recorded what they saw. Stonehenge was built far, far, far earlier than the Druids’.
The illuminated Stonehenge included a black and white photograph of the now 96-year-old at her coronation in June 1953, when she was just 27.
The Queen’s love for animals was also celebrated within the photos, which include her riding a horse and walking her beloved corgis in the 1960s and 1980s.
In one image from the 1960s the Queen, who has been riding since the age of three, was seen racing her horse wearing a smart riding jacket and headscarf.
Another shot depicted her walking some of her corgis at the Cross Country course on the second day of the Windsor Horse Trials in 1980.
The monarch wore a colourful navy, white and gold headscarf while watching her horse Barber’s Shop win at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in 2017, in a more recent photo.
Other pictures used in the celebrative light show included shots of the monarch’s colourful wardrobe.
One stone showed the Queen in a polka-dot marigold printed pleated dress and a matching turban-style hat during a state visit to Mexico in February 1975.
Others were bemused by the debate, with one user saying: ‘Oh ffs. Why won’t we all just stay indoors so we don’t offend anyone by accident’
More recently she wore an elegant pink coat, with striking black buttons and a flower-adorned hat on a joint engagement with the Duchess of Cambridge to King’s College London in 2019.
While English Heritage manages the Stonehenge site, the monument is owned by the Crown and the National Trust owns the surrounding land.
The charity is also hosting family events across many of its sites nationwide until June 5 and will be part of the nationwide beacon lighting on June 2.
Previously Stonehenge was lit up with photos to celebrate eight ‘unsung champions of heritage’ who continued working on community, heritage and arts projects during the Covid crisis in 2020.
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