Queen’s portrait of Welsh Waterloo hero changed to mention his links with slavery and torture
A PAINTING of a hero of Waterloo is the first in the Queen’s Royal Collection of art to be amended to include his links to slavery.
Historic details of the portrait of Sir Thomas Picton have been changed with a reference to his connection to torturing a slave girl when he was known as the “Tyrant of Trinidad”.
The public notes for a painting of Picton hanging at the Waterloo Chamber at Windsor Castle have been altered in the wake of the Black Lives Matter campaign.
Picton was revered for generations as the most senior British soldier to be killed defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. But campaigners say his links to the horrific slave trade should be highlighted.
Lt Gen Picton was the highest-ranking British officer killed at Waterloo after Duke of Wellington called him “as rough a foul-mouthed devil as ever lived” but “very capable”.
Picton’s is the first to be amended in The Royal Collection Trust which has a 250,000-strong art collection includes exhibits at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.
It now reads: “Picton’s punitive administration of Trinidad and his subjects’ enforced adherence to strict penal codes were the subject of contemporary controversy in Britain and the West Indies.
“He was brought to trial in London in 1806, accused of carrying out torturous practices in jails under his jurisdiction.
“He was later partially exonerated, on the grounds that while he had committed illegal acts not befitting his role as military governor, the right to torture prisoners was recognised under the Spanish laws still enforced at the time.”
It is known as the largest art collection in the world and it is considering altering other notes online and at exhibitions.
A trust spokesman said: “In terms of other records, work is under way within our curatorial teams to improve and update them, which will happen in the coming weeks and months”
Sir Thomas was convicted of ordering the illegal torture of 14-year-old Luisa Calderon, who was accused of stealing. He admitted to the charge but the conviction was later overturned. He returned to Britain and was a sitting MP when he was killed by the Napoleon’s troops in 1815.
Dr Douglas Jones, of the National Library of Wales, said: “Picton admitted ordering the torture, but claimed that it was legal under the Spanish law still being administered in Trinidad at the time, despite the island being under British rule.”
Dr Jones said Picton’s governorship was “authoritarian and brutal” as he increased the number of lashes given to slaves and authorised executions.
A campaign has now been launched to remove Picton’s marble statue from pride of place in a City Hall to be replaced with a memorial to Luisa Calderon.
Dan De’Ath, the first black Lord Mayor of Cardiff, called for the monument to be removed from an array of the heroes of Wales in the council’s Marble Hall. He said: “I feel that it is no longer acceptable for Picton’s statue to be amongst the ‘Heroes of Wales’ in City Hall.”
Council leader Huw Thomas is also backing calls for the sculpture to be taken down from Cardiff City Hall next to the other Welsh heroes.
Picton was born in Haverfordwest.