British town's 'horrific' Princess Diana memorial gets slated

An English town's tribute to Princess Diana hasn't gone down as well as expected. Photo / File

A British town's floral tribute to Princess Diana has been absolutely panned on social media after people said the "horrific" design looked more like a scary children's character than the late Princess of Wales.

The memorial, which is on display outside Chesterfield's Market Hall in Derbyshire, was created as part of the town's "well dressing" celebrations, an annual custom in the county, which involves making pictures using only natural materials. The design was chosen to mark the 20th anniversary of Diana's death.

This year's #Chesterfield well dressing marks the 20th anniversary of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. The well dressing is on display at the Town Pump outside the Market Hall.

Posted by Chesterfield Borough Council on Tuesday, 12 September 2017

Chesterfield Borough Council posted photographs of the display on its Facebook page, where the responses were less than complimentary.

One commenter, Richard Wilkins, compared the tribute to uneasy on the eye British TV scarecrow character Worzel Gummidge, posting on Facebook: "Worzel gummidge RIP forever in our hearts."

Gayla Tuckley said she thought it was an "insult" to the late princess, adding: "Luckily she had a sense of humour and would probably be laughing if she could see it or cared. But still it needs taking down; it's not nice at all."

Louise Foyster said the "horrific" tribute was bound to go viral, adding: "Putting Chesterfield on the map!"

Roger Fearn also commented: "Our shops are closing, our Market stalls are empty, we have homeless people in our bus station, our football team is crap and now this."

The social media comments have not been kind.

Some, however, were a bit more sympathetic.

Emma-Leigh Rose posted: "Maybe it's not an exact likeness guys but come on! People have put a lot of effort into this when they didn't need to! Done something nice for Chesterfield and for Diana", while JF Andrew said: "I'm sure a lot of time went into this ... but that is absolutely horrific!!"

Chesterfield MP Toby Perkins sent an apparently uncertain tweet in response to a resident who said they were "screaming" at the photos.

Chesterfield Borough Council has apparently not commented on the ensuing furore.