Animal rights activists are targeting a portrait of the king, which appears to paste the animated character Wallace onto his face.
A speech bubble reading: “No cheese, Gromit. Look at all this cruelty on RSPCA farms” was also placed on the painting at the Philip Mold gallery in central London.
It was the first official portrait of Kingby artist Jonathan Yeo, since the coronation, which was revealed at Buckingham Palace last month.
Animal Rising said two of its supporters were responsible for the stunt, saying the artwork was targeted because of the King’s love for the British stop-motion comedy franchise Wallace and Gromit created by Nick Park and his status as a Royal Patron. from the RSPCA.
Photo: Animal Rising/Jonathan Yeo 2024/Reuters
The Queen once revealed that inventor Wallace and his dog Gromit, the stars of hit Aardman films including The Wrong Pants and A Grand Day Out, were her husband’s “favourite people in the world”.
In a post on the group’s website, Daniel Juniper, one of those involved, said he wanted to draw your attention to the alleged cruelty reported on farms run by the RSPCA.
“While we hope this will be entertaining for Her Majesty, we also ask that she seriously reconsider whether she wishes to be associated with the terrible suffering on RSPCA-supported farms,” he said.
“Charles has made it clear that he is sensitive to the suffering of animals on UK farms; Now is the perfect time for him to speak out and call on the RSPCA to abandon the guaranteed scheme and tell the truth about animal farming.”
A video posted on social media site X shows two protesters approaching the painting before pasting the posters with paint rollers and then walking away.
Photo: Animal Rising
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Animal Rising – which claims the posters were affixed with water sprayed on the back so they could be easily removed – is calling on the King to suspend its support for the RSPCA until the charity abandons its ethical food labeling scheme.
It is understood that the painting is behind Perspex and therefore no damage has occurred.
Spokeswoman Orla Coghlan said: “Just as Feathers McGraw tricked Wallace into a bank robbery, the RSPCA has misled the British public into thinking that its factory farms are – in any case – an acceptable place for animals to live. 45 RSPCA farms have ensured there is no gentle way to raise animals.”
A portrait of King Charles by artist Jonathan Yeo. Photo: Reuters
The report, released by Animal Rising on Sunday, contains results of investigations into 45 farms across the UK with chickens, pigs, salmon and trout.
An RSPCA spokesperson said the charity launched “an immediate and urgent investigation” after receiving the images on Sunday, but was “shocked by this vandalism”.
“We welcome scrutiny of our work, but we cannot tolerate any type of illegal activity,” they said, adding that the group’s “sustained activity distracts from our focus on the work that really matters – helping thousands of animals every day.”
The spokesperson said the charity remains “confident” that the scheme secured by the RSPCA “is the best way to help farmed animals at this time, whilst campaigning to change their lives in the future”.
“We respond openly and transparently to Animal Rising’s challenges to our agricultural work,” they said.
“While we understand that Animal Rising, like us, wants what’s best for animals, your activity is a distraction and a challenge to the work we are all doing to create a better world for all animals.”
Buckingham Palace declined to comment.
The portrait shows the King wearing the uniform of the Welsh Guards, of which he was appointed regimental colonel in 1975, and was originally commissioned in 2020 to celebrate his 50 years as a member of The Draper’s Company in 2022.
He represented Yeo on four occasions between June 2021 and November 2023 at Highgrove in Gloucestershire and Clarence House in London.
Activists throw cake at the wax statue of King Charles
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The renowned portraitist’s previous subjects include Idris Elba, Cara Delevingne, Sir David Attenborough, Nicole Kidman, Malala Yousafzai and former prime ministers Sirs David Cameron and Tony Blair.
Climate activists defamed Madame Tussauds wax statue of the King with chocolate cake in October 2022, while works of art including the Mona Lisa in the Louvre were targeted by protesters.
Activists threw soup at Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece in January, while members of the Just Stop Oil group used the same tactic in Sunflowers by Vincent Van Gogh at the National Gallery in London in October 2022.
The following month, activists glued themselves to Goya’s paintings at the Prado museum in Madrid.
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