Other visitors were more welcoming of the statue.
Francis, visiting with his wife Marie, said: “It’s great, I think they have it down to a tee.
“They’ve got the [late] Queen as she’s young. I think the two would be very pleased with it. And they’ve got the corgis all round.”
The proposal to commission a sculpture of Queen Elizabeth and her dogs was made in January 2023. A bronze statue of Prince Philip had already been erected in the parterre garden.
During the unveiling of the new statue, Paul Dunlop, the deputy mayor of Antrim and Newtownabbey, said: “It’s down to personal taste, everyone has their own opinion but it is what the sculpture represents that is important.”