I was going to stick this onto the end of the BAFTA post, but it got so long that I decided to give it it’s own post.
Prince William is a dumbass who thinks destroying 1,200 pieces of historical art will stop illegal poaching. He wants to destroy the Palace’s collection of ivory art, and hopes other heads of state will do the same with their ivory art, and that it will send a message to the poachers about how serious he is about ending illegal poaching. Yeah, the poachers aren’t going to give a sh-t whether the Brits destroy their art. All that act will do is destroy 1,200 pieces of historical art. Nothing will come of it except the loss of the art.
Some dumb-ss Conservative MP (Zac Goldsmith) thinks it’s a great idea: “It’s difficult to imagine a stronger symbol of the horrors of ivory than Buckingham Palace publicly destroying its own. Good for Prince William for pushing this.”
The art world isn’t having it, though. Brian Sewell, an art critic and elephant-protection supporter, said: “We have to recognise that [these items] exist. Ivory was a treasured material that was worked on by craftsmen of the highest order during the Renaissance… It’s pointless. I can’t see the connection between saving elephants and destroying works of art made centuries ago.”
Look, I’m all for protecting endangered species, but the art made from ivory was made at a time when elephants were not endangered, hundreds of years ago—or even a thousand in some cases. That is priceless historical artwork that William would have destroyed all to prove how serious he is about ending illegal poaching. So basically he wants all art that doesn’t fit his ideals to be destroyed. Who does he think he is, Hitler? Seriously, Hitler thought it was okay to destroy all the art he didn’t think was important or didn’t like. That is what William’s claim reminds me of.
As a historian, I cannot stand this. I hope the Queen, Charles, and the British government who actually owns the Royal Collection sees reason and shuts this stupid idea of William’s down. A KP spokesperson declined to comment, because they never comment on anything. Someone needs to sit William down and explain what an idiot (and a tyrant) he would be if he destroyed all that art. No wonder William switched his major from Art History to Geography, clearly he doesn’t give a sh-t about art.
ha ha! He has destroyed his life by marrying lazykins, now he wants to destroy everything he can think of, lazykins is drving him psycho!
I think that’s a bit misguided (destroying it). However, it’s a bit of a moot point as he won’t actually own it personally when he takes the throne. So the government might be a bit miffed if he takes a sledgehammer to some antiques.
Well, that’s very Bonfire of the Vanities, I must say. Let’s have a mass burning of precious artwork in front of Buck Palace and see where that gets William other than behaving like the Savanarola of ivory. Destroying precious masterpieces of art isn’t the solution; as had been stated it already exists and doesn’t currently do any harm. It’s killing elephants and rhino for their tusks in today’s world that’s against the law and has to be addressed.
If this is William’s method of solving problems, let’s hope he never becomes king or takes on more causes. I pity Kate if he uses such heavy-handed solutions to problem-solving at home.