Oxford college students vote to remove Queen Elizabeth's photo from their common room, saying she represents colonial history
- Students at Oxford's Magdalen College voted to remove a photo of Queen Elizabeth from a common room.
- They said the Queen and the British monarchy "represent recent colonial history."
- The vote comes amid a larger reckoning of the royal family's racist past.
Graduate students at Magdalen College at the University of Oxford voted on Monday to remove a photo of Queen Elizabeth from their common room, saying "depictions of the monarch and the British monarchy represent recent colonial history," the Oxford Mail reported.
Education secretary Gavin Williamson responded to the vote on Twitter, calling the decision "simply absurd."
"She is the Head of State and a symbol of what is best about the UK," he wrote on Tuesday. "During her long reign she has worked tirelessly to promote British values of tolerance, inclusivity & respect around the world."
Also on Tuesday, Dinah Rose, president of Magdalen College, released a series of tweets defending the vote, saying that the graduate student organization does not represent the college and that Magdalen "supports free speech and political debate."
She also said it was the student group that had chosen to buy the photo around 2013 and display it.
"Here are some facts about Magdalen College and HM the Queen," Rose wrote. "The Middle Common Room is an organisation of graduate students. They don't represent the College. A few years ago, in about 2013, they bought a print of a photo of the Queen to decorate their common room. They recently voted to take it down. Both of these decisions are their own to take, not the College's. Magdalen strongly supports free speech and political debate, and the MCR'S right to autonomy. Maybe they'll vote to put it up again, maybe they won't. Meanwhile, the photo will be safely stored."
She continued: "Being a student is about more than studying. It's about exploring and debating ideas. It's sometimes about provoking the older generation. Looks like that isn't so hard to do these days. So if you are one of the people currently sending obscene and threatening messages to the College staff, you might consider pausing, and asking yourself whether that is really the best way to show your respect for the Queen."
Representatives for Magdalen College declined to comment, referring Insider to Rose's Twitter thread. Buckingham Palace also declined to comment.
The vote comes amid a larger reckoning of the British monarchy's past
The royals have been accused of turning a blind eye to - and, in some instances, even enabling - racism since the early years of the monarchy.
Queen Elizabeth I, for example, was connected to Britain's slave trade in the 1500s - the monarch publicly supported Captain John Hawkins, who captured 300 Africans and exchanged them for hides, ginger, and sugar in 1562. Queen Elizabeth II has never publicly acknowledged her ancestor's actions.
Last week, The Guardian reported that it had obtained documents showing that Buckingham Palace had banned "colored immigrants or foreigners" from working in office roles until at least the late 1960s. A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace told Insider that the household complies with the Equality Act and that "claims based on a second hand account of conversations from over 50 years ago should not be used to draw or infer conclusions about modern day events or operations."
In March, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry told Oprah Winfrey in their tell-all interview that unnamed members of the royal family voiced concerns to Harry about how dark his son Archie's skin might be when he was born, and Harry said racism was "a large part" of why the couple left the UK.
Buckingham Palace responded with a public statement calling the issue "concerning" and saying that "some recollections may vary," while Prince William told reporters during a visit to an East London school that the royals are "not a racist family."