The longstanding debate between Greece and Britain over the return of the Parthenon Marbles has taken a surprising turn. Last month on GB News, the British Attorney General, Michael Ellis – chief legal advisor to the Crown, suggested that Britain could reclaim the Ionian Islands if Athens persists in demanding the return of the Parthenon Marbles.
“If the Greeks aren’t going to respect the arrangements that have been made for the Elgin Marbles, maybe we should ask them not to accept the 1864 treaty either. And we’ll have the islands back,” Michael Ellis stated.
In 1864, Queen Victoria gifted the Ionian Islands which were British sovereign islands from 1815, to the King of Greece under the Treaty of London.
The Attorney General’s remarks came on the back of a meeting in London in December between the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer and the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, during which the contentious issue of the Parthenon sculptures was raised.
Word from Downing Street indicated that Starmer believes that the future of the ‘Parthenon Sculptures’ lies “entirely” with the British Museum and he would not stand in the way of an agreement to return them. A senior Greek official in attendance at the meeting commented: “We welcome the fact that the British government will not stand in the way if there is an agreement with the British Museum.”
It has been reported that talks between the British Museum and Greece over the ancient sculptures appear to be progressing. In an end of year (2024) poll by research company YouGov, around 53 per cent of British people favour the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece.
