Students at one of Oxford University’s elite colleges have voted to remove a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II because she “represents recent colonial history,” according to a report.
Members of the Middle Common Room at Magdalen College voted by a substantial majority to remove the monarch’s portrait, according to minutes obtained by the popular UK political blog Guido Fawkes.
“This is about our communal space and making people feel welcome,” one student reportedly told the meeting at the college, which was long known to be “solidly royalist” and whose alumni include King Edward VIII.
Another student insisted that “patriotism and colonialism are not really separable,” according to the minutes.
Her Majesty’s image will be replaced with “art by or of other influential and inspirational people” — and the committee needs to approve any future images of the royal family, the report said. The student group is looking to auction off the portrait, according to the blog.
While one supporter of the move insisted they were not “canceling” the queen, opponents said the school was risking “reputational damage” for the entire university.

“In an era where debates on no-platforming and cancel culture rage strong, effectively ‘cancelling’ the Queen and brandishing her as a symbol of colonialism – so often used as a synonym for racism – sends a dire message that is sure to enrage,” one opponent said, according to Guido Fawkes.
“Moreover, it is culturally insensitive for a common room so heavily comprised of international students to seek to remove a national symbol from a British institution,” the unidentified student complained.
“The cultural heritage of all nations has the right to be respected, and a common room that does not do so cannot claim to be inclusive.”
The decision was also ripped online as “cancel culture gone mad.”
“And there was me thinking Oxford had the brightest students,” @Hasscas tweeted.
“Imagine trying to cancel the reigning monarch,” journalist Samantha Smith wrote, insisting that “the Queen was a pioneer of anti-racism in an era of widespread segregation and apartheid.”
Founded in 1458, Magdalen only opened its doors to women in 1979, but insists that “the College today prides itself on being an inclusive institution, open to all.”
One of the buildings at Magdalen College in Oxford, UK. Alamy Stock PhotoFormer students include US Gen. Wesley Clark, one-time UK leader William Hague and former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, as well as a host of poets and writers, including Julian Barnes, John Betjeman and Oscar Wilde.






