It took 20 years of painstaking labour, intended to bring communities together and celebrate history with contributions from the Queen, Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Mother and the Prince of Wales.

Nearly two decades since its completion, the 267ft-long New World Tapestry has faced its first complaint, on the grounds of racism.

A campaign group has claimed the tapestry “shamelessly perpetuates” an unfair stereotype of Native Americans as “subhuman, warlike savages”, calling for it to be banned from public display henceforth.

Scenes from the tapestry, which is currently in storage, show the history of colonisation from 1583 and 1642 , depicting half-naked Native Americans defending their territory after the arrival of Western settlers with arrows and tomahawks.