Enid Blyton commemorative coin scrapped after author dubbed ‘racist, sexist and homophobic’
The coin was set to be released back in 2016 to commemorate 50 years since her death
By Steve Brown
Words: Steve Brown
Plans to give Enid Blyton a special commemorative coin were scrapped after the Royal Mint dubbed the author ‘racist, sexist and homophobic’.
The author penned beloved children’s books including ‘The Famous Five’, ‘Noddy’, ‘The Faraway Tree’ and ‘The Secret Seven’ and on the 50th anniversary of her death in 2016, it was planned to commemorate her with a special 50p coin.
However, the plans were blocked by the Royal Mint after members of the group said the author was a ‘racist, sexist, homophobe and not a very well-regarded writer’, according to the Mail Online, who obtained the meeting minutes under the freedom of information request.
On Good Morning Britain today (August 27), host Richard Madeley discussed the scrapped plans and criticised the move.
He said: “It seems to me that if you were to draw a line in the year say 1955 and go backwards from there you could pretty much pick up anybody based on our modern values.
“There are social lines that have changed and you can’t judge people by the standards of today, so actually I think personally to call Enid Blyton homophobic is ridiculous.”
The Royal Mint has refused to put Enid Blyton’s face on a commemorative coin after being known to be a ‘racist’, ‘sexist’ and ‘homophobe’, according to the Royal Mint Advisory Committee.
Are they right or should this best-selling writer still be celebrated? pic.twitter.com/ZJT6vVmMAi
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) August 27, 2019
A spokeswoman for the Royal Mint said: “The point of the advisory committee is to ensure that themes commemorated on UK coins are varied, inclusive and represent the most significant events in our history.
“For these reasons not every event will progress to a UK coin.”