![The statue has been described as 'detritus masquerading as public art'](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2024/03/26/TELEMMGLPICT000371823068_17114792080640_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqP5cCLU3tGUKNTdPSRn7muthC1is0rrp-PSgpUfsOYQU.jpeg?imwidth=680)
‘Worst-ever’ Prince Philip statue must be torn down, orders council
A £150,000 sculpture purporting to depict late Duke of Edinburgh must be removed as it was erected without planning permission
![The statue has been described as 'detritus masquerading as public art'](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2024/03/26/TELEMMGLPICT000371823068_17114792080640_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqP5cCLU3tGUKNTdPSRn7muthC1is0rrp-PSgpUfsOYQU.jpeg?imwidth=680)
A statue apparently depicting Prince Philip must be torn down, a council has ruled.
The 13ft sculpture, called “The Don”, was erected outside an office block in Cambridge four years ago with a plaque commemorating the late Duke of Edinburgh’s time as chancellor at the university.
But the £150,000 statue, dubbed the “poorest-quality work ever submitted” by Cambridge city council, must be removed because it was installed without planning permission.
The work had been derided by locals since plans were first submitted a decade ago, with it being described as “kitsch-like” and “detritus masquerading as public art”, Cllr Katie Thornburrow said.
“Nobody, apart from the wealthy property developer who commissioned it, seems to have a good word to say about it,” she added.
![The sculpture was erected four years ago to commemorate the Duke's time as chancellor of the University of Cambridge](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2024/03/26/TELEMMGLPICT000371818463_17114723457190_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqrnKnv-EZ40EhYX8nU7dr80SY4L_uZbX2J0tItxocMLE.jpeg?imwidth=350)
The sculpture was commissioned by Unex Group, a property development firm, in 2014 for the grounds of Unex House, an office block on Hills Road in Cambridge.
After the application, it was rejected by the city council for being “possibly the poorest-quality work that has ever been submitted”.
Pablo Atchugarry, a Uruguayan sculptor named in the application as its creator, later denied that he was behind it and said he had never seen it before.
“I am not the author of this sculpture, and it is an abuse that they had used my name on it,” he said.
However, Bill Gredley, the company’s chairman, said at the time: “It’s a spectacular piece of art.”
![The piece was initially described as taking 'the form of a Cambridge Don or student'](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2024/03/26/TELEMMGLPICT000371818456_17114724919080_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqqVzuuqpFlyLIwiB6NTmJwfSVWeZ_vEN7c6bHu2jJnT8.jpeg?imwidth=350)
In the initial application, it was described as taking “the form of a Cambridge Don or student”, not Prince Philip, but after its installation a plaque commemorating the late Duke was placed at its feet which read: “HRH Prince Philip. Duke of Edinburgh. Chancellor. University of Cambridge. 1977-2011.”
It was erected without permission in its originally intended position at some point between April 2019 and September 2020, when it first appears in archive Google Street View images.
The sculpture was later moved to another building owned by Unex Group, Charter House at 62-68 Hills Road.
Enforcement notice
In response, the council has issued an enforcement notice ordering the company to pull down the statue within four months of April 11.
Unex Group has also been told to remove the statue’s foundations and plinth and “restore the land to its former condition prior to the installation”.
Cllr Thornburrow said: “I will be glad to see it gone, but remain angry that developers could just dump it in place and then force the council to spend officers’ time and money getting them to take it away. We deserve better.”
Mr Gredley and Mr Atchugarry were approached for comment.