The portrait was commissioned in 2020 to celebrate the then Prince of Wales' 50 years as a member of The Drapers' Company in 2022. Photo / Getty Images
The portrait was commissioned in 2020 to celebrate the then Prince of Wales' 50 years as a member of The Drapers' Company in 2022. Photo / Getty Images
In their latest bid to raise awareness around animal cruelty, protesters from UK activist group Animal Rising have defaced King Charles’ latest portrait.
Footage shows two Animal Rising protesters appearing to deface the painting of the King, by Jonathan Yeo, with Wallace and Gromit stickers.
The men use rollers to plaster a picture of Wallace, from the children’s film series, alongside the quote: “No cheese, Gromit. Look at all this cruelty on RSPCA farms.”
The vegan activist group said they had chosen to redecorate the portrait of the King on Pall Mall in Philip Mould gallery to bring attention to animal cruelty.
The action was intended to raise awareness of Animal Rising’s investigation of 45 RSPCA Assured farms, described as “indefensible” by RSPCA president Chris Packham and “effectively fraud” by Crown Court Judge Ayesha Smart.
Animal Rising said its action played on the King’s love of Wallace and Gromit and his status as royal patron of the RSPCA.
One of those involved, Daniel Juniper, said: “With King Charles being such a big fan of Wallace and Gromit, we couldn’t think of a better way to draw his attention to the horrific scenes on RSPCA Assured farms. Even though we hope this is amusing to His Majesty, we also call on him to seriously reconsider if he wants to be associated with the awful suffering across farms being endorsed by the RSPCA.
“Charles has made it clear he is sensitive to the suffering of animals in UK farms; now is the perfect time for him to step up and call on the RSPCA to drop the Assured scheme and tell the truth about animal farming.”
Yeo began work on it in 2021 with sittings at Highgrove and Clarence House.
The final of four sittings were in November last year, with Yeo aiming to capture his Majesty’s “life experiences” and how his “role in our public life has transformed”.
The portrait was unveiled by the King, in front of the Queen, the artist and his family, at Buckingham Palace.
It was commissioned in 2020 to celebrate the then Prince of Wales’ 50 years as a member of The Drapers’ Company, intended to be ready for the anniversary in 2022.
The canvas is around 2.5m by 1.9m when framed and will eventually hang in Drapers’ Hall.
The portrait of King Charles III by Jonathan Yeo, left, is unveiled in the blue drawing room at Buckingham Palace. Photo / Getty Images
‘No damage’ to painting
Philip Mould told the Telegraph he was “delighted to say there was absolutely no damage” to the painting.
It is understood four perpetrators were responsible for the stunt, two of whom were filming.
They entered the gallery wearing rucksacks and as members of the public.
Juniper said they wanted to get King Charles’ attention “in a way that he would enjoy and therefore be more likely to listen to us”.
Juniper claimed onlookers “loved” the spectacle, saying: “We put up the posters nice and smoothly and as soon as we did people started chuckling behind us.
“There was a buzz around the gallery, people came and talked to us, took photos of us and then we were politely asked to leave. People came up and said they loved it.”
He added: “The staff member asked us what we were doing and why and let us talk about what we wanted to talk about.
“He wasn’t negative. He was concerned for the painting and we then took the speech bubble off and they took the [face] down later.”
Staff later unpeeled the two Wallace and Gromit stickers and asked the protesters to leave.
‘We are shocked by this vandalism’
An RSPCA spokesman said: “We are shocked by this vandalism of His Majesty [the] King, our patron’s, portrait.
“We welcome scrutiny of our work, but we cannot condone illegal activity of any kind. Our staff and volunteers work extremely hard rescuing, caring for and speaking up for animals.
“Animal Rising’s sustained activity is distracting from our focus on the work that really matters - helping thousands of animals every day.
“We remain confident that our RSPCA Assured scheme is the best way to help farmed animals right now, while campaigning to change their lives in the future.”
The spokesman added that any concerns about welfare on RSPCA Assured certified farms were taken extremely seriously and an investigation had already been launched.
Wallace & Gromit is said to be one of King Charles' favourite movies.
Wallace and Gromit one of the King’s ‘favourite films’
In 2012 the Duchess of Cornwall said her husband, the then Prince Charles, enjoyed watching Wallace and Gromit.
The Duchess revealed royal viewing habits when she met children at a reception at Clarence House.
She did so at an event where she was unveiled as patron of the Big Jubilee Lunch, which aimed to bring communities together to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
She told the children: “I love Shaun the Sheep. He’s really funny. My husband Prince Charles – Wallace and Gromit are his favourite people in the world. We always sit and watch them – it’s one of his favourite films.”
The gallery has reported the vandalism to the police.
The Metropolitan Police has been contacted for comment.
