More anti-monarchy messages have been spotted in Greater Manchester during the country’s mourning period for Her Majesty The Queen.
Last weekend, graffiti calling for an end to the monarchy was sprayed onto a wall at Hough End playing fields in Withington . Now, banners with similar messaging have been spotted in Salford and Trafford on the morning of Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral.
The banners were spotted on footbridges over the River Irwell near Cottenham Lane and over Blackfriars Road in Salford. In Trafford, a banner has been fixed to Woden's Bridge, near Cornbrook Tram Stop.
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The latter of the three banners was spotted by Tom Mortimer, 25, who lives in the nearby Pomona Wharf flat. He called the messages ‘inappropriate’.
“We were walking the dog on the canal and on our way back we saw it as we were on the other side,” Tom explained. “It was pretty like… ‘woah’.
“My fiancé did not spot it and I pointed it out to him. We noticed that one of the words is spelled wrong.”
Tom, 25, continued: “I am not an anti-monarchist or a monarchist, but there’s a time and a place. It’s been done deliberately today to cause a stir. It’s a little bit inappropriate.”
Some of the messages in the images, sent by a passer-by to the Manchester Evening News, include ‘no tears for dead parasites’, ‘£8 million funeral while the country starves’, and ‘Let Mountbatten be the first of many. End the monarchy.’
That final message is a reference to Lord Mountbatten, the second cousin to the Queen, who was assassinated when the IRA blew up his fishing boat Shadow V off the coast of County Sligo, Ireland. Two other relatives and a boy also died in the attack.
The banners appeared on the morning of the Queen’s state funeral, which began at 11am. Her final resting place is St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, where she was buried later in the afternoon.
Photos from the Manchester Evening News show that the banners have been removed this afternoon.
Salford and Trafford councils have been contacted for comment.
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