What King Charles would do about it is anyone’s guess, although he must be quite used to unusual royal performances by now.
On a wall in an alley near the lively bars of Belmont Street and the Aberdeen Art Gallery (filled with works by artists such as Monet, Renoir and Reynolds), a spray-painted painting shows a naked monarch walking with a crown while holds a ceremonial mace and briefcase.
The inhabitants of Aberdon barely give him a glance. After all, just around the corner is another surreal public work by a pair of police officers riding ostriches.
Meanwhile, a tattooed, hooded man petting a chihuahua adorns a Primark bag, and two mysterious masked women in cocktail dresses are painted outside an office block.
Aberdeen, long known as the Granite City due to its preponderance of local stone, is lighting up. But what is happening on Earth?
Historic: “Aberdeen, long known as the Granite City because of its preponderance of local stone, is lighting up,” writes Tom Chesshyre
A few years ago, in 2017, an annual street art festival was launched, with amazing new public murals installed each year by renowned artists (the next one will be June 6-9).
The cumulative effect is starting to attract attention, along with the recent £28 million regeneration of the previously dilapidated Union Terrace Gardens.
The latter is complete with an illuminated Hollywood-style sign reading “Aberdeen”, plus banks of glorious flower beds.
With a long tradition of being the place where North Sea oil workers go for rest and relaxation, Granite City is now gaining traction and attracting tourists from Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Above, an illuminated Hollywood-style sign in Union Terrace Gardens, Aberdeen
Aberdeen art gallery is packed with works by artists including Monet, Renoir and Reynolds, reveals Tom
The streets around Union Terrace seem like the center of everything, with lively cafes and bistros. An imposing statue of Scottish rebel William Wallace faces the garden, alongside another of Prince Albert. Nearby is also the imposing Edwardian Majesty’s Theatre.
Across the way, the Aberdeen Art Gallery comprises a labyrinth of modern works, paintings by old masters and local artists such as James McBey (1883-1959). His striking portraits, including one of a lifeboat hero from 1936, are reason enough to go.
Aberdeen, on the northeast coast of Scotland, is the port city between the rivers Dee and Don.
Stroll through granite-clad tenement blocks to Old Aberdeen, with its cobbled streets, the distinguished King’s College quad (dating back to 1495) and St Machar’s Cathedral, where Wallace’s left arm was reputedly buried. in 1305 after his execution.
Aberdeen is located on the northeast coast of Scotland. Above, the town’s stretch of beach: you can see dolphins jumping behind the ferries bound for Orkney and Shetland.
Tom recommends a visit to King’s College’s distinguished courtyard, which dates back to 1495, when traveling to Aberdeen.
From there it’s a walk to the Don and then across a beach to the Dee, where you can watch dolphins leaping after ferries bound for Orkney and Shetland.
Here you will also find the elegant old fishing village of Footdee, plus an excellent seafood restaurant: The silver darling (excellent sea bass when I went), which was a haunt of Sir Alex Ferguson when he was manager of Aberdeen FC.
The real football hero here, however, is Scotland’s and Manchester United’s Denis Law. The statue of him near the town hall is not that far from the spray-painted naked king. Football royalty takes pride of place.
