On a number of occasions since 2017—most recently on 7 December (see below)—Alistair Lexden has castigated a truly dreadful statue of Mrs Thatcher. In a letter in The Daily Telegraph on 15 December, he summed up his objections to it under the headline “Unlike Thatcher”.
SIR -The statue of Margaret Thatcher which loyal Tories want to erect in Grantham does not deserve the support of her school contemporary, Professor M J Sewell (Letters, December 10). Whoever paid £300,000 to have it made wasted their money.
The so-called “state robes” which adorn it bear no more than a passing resemblance to the actual robes worn by members of the House of Lords. They turn her into dowdy provincial mayoress.
The face has a bland, slightly troubled expression. It lacks the rather fierce, penetrating eyes which unnerved so many Cabinet ministers. There is no trace of her resilience and determination, brilliantly captured by Oscar Nemon in his 1979 bust of her at the Carlton Club.
Mark and Carol Thatcher have failed to give this statue their blessing. The controversy that continues to surround Lady Thatcher needs to recede before any statue is erected in a public place. Then a work should be commissioned that does justice to one of Britain’s greatest prime ministers.
Lord Lexden
London SW1
