The Walker Gallery has included Norfolk's most famous son in a collection entitled 'Queer relationships', which highlights "intimate relationships between members of the same sex which go beyond platonic friendship".

Curators have based Nelson's inclusion on the sailor's supposed final words as he lay dying from a sniper's musket ball below deck on HMS Victory during the Battle of Trafalgar.

The sailor, who was born in Burnham Thorpe, is said to have uttered 'kiss me, Hardy' to his flag captain Vice Admiral Sir Thomas Hardy shortly before drawing his last breath.

The gallery has suggested Nelson's last words are "symbolic of the sometimes hidden queer history of life at sea"(Image: Wiki Commons / Lemuel Francis Abbott)

Sir Thomas Hardy(Image: Domenico Pellegrini)

The taxpayer-funded Walker Gallery, in Liverpool, has included two paintings of the scene in its online 'Queer relationships' section.

It says that Hardy responded by kissing Nelson on his hands and forehead.

It adds: "Nelson’s famous request is symbolic of this sometimes hidden queer history of life at sea."

The Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool(Image: Wiki Commons / Rept0n1x)

Nelson was married to Frances........

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