National Trust strikes again!
After male cover-up row, bosses ban film-maker over conspiracy theory that Lawrence of Arabia was murdered
ONLY a day after the National Trust was accused of one politically correct cover-up, it has blundered into another row over censorship.
The charity was blasted on Monday for an ‘infantile’ attempt to highlight the lack of women in art ... by concealing pictures featuring men at one of its stately homes.
Now censorious bosses have decided to bar a director from shooting scenes at one of its properties for a film about Lawrence of Arabia, declaring the request against its ‘aims and values’.
It is just the latest in a series of episodes where the charity has been accused of stepping outside its supposed brief of preserving beautiful buildings and landscapes.
Director Mark Griffin, 60, says he was barred from using TE Lawrence’s cottage, Clouds Hill, because his biopic ‘perpetuates a conspiracy’ over the war hero’s death. He accuses the charity of double standards because it allowed a zombie movie to be filmed at a stately home in 2016.
His film, called Lawrence After Arabia, focuses on Lawrence’s last two years. He died in a motorcycle accident close to the cottage in Moreton, Dorset, in 1935. Mr Griffin’s film will raise the possibility that he was killed on the orders of the British secret service.
He claims the National Trust initially told him they were keen on him filming at the cottage because it would attract more visitors.
‘Then, the very next day, I got a call saying, after speaking to the custodian of the property, they could no longer support the film as they felt it perpetuated conspiracy theories relating to Lawrence’s death,’ said Mr Griffin.
The actor and writer added: ‘Our plan was only to film scenes of Lawrence parking his motorbike and entering the cottage, so nothing insensitive. This is censorship pure and simple, and it is an untenable position when you consider they have allowed a zombie film to be shot at a Trust property with far more questionable material.’
Lawrence was riding his Brough Superior SS100 on May 13, 1935, when he swerved to avoid two boys on their bicycles near Clouds Hill. He died six days later in hospital aged 46.
Mr Griffin’s film will explore sev eral theories about his death, including one that he was killed on the orders of the British intelligence community.
In an email to Mr Griffin, Sarah Payne, the Trust’s film and locations executive, said it did not want to be seen to be endorsing the controversial theory.
A Trust spokesman said: ‘All requests for commercial access to sites are assessed against the aims and values of the Trust. In this case alternative locations were offered.’ On Monday the Trust was accused of being ‘PC for PC’s sake’ after it covered up pictures and sculptures with white sheets at Cragside in Northumbria to highlight ‘a lack of female representation in art’.
In other rows over political correctness, Trust volunteers have been asked to disclose their sexual and gender orientation and some had to wear gay pride badges.
Intelligence officer TE Lawrence mobilised the Arab Revolt against Germany’s ally Turkey in the First World War. His exploits made him a celebrity but he resented his fame and was disillusioned with how the allies treated the Arabs after the end of the war.