Watch: Animal rights activists vandalise King’s portrait

Good heavens. Protestors are back to their old tricks and now it’s the King’s first official royal portrait that has ended up in the firing line. The all-new painting has been defaced by animal rights group ‘Animal Rising’, which today decided to vandalise the portrait — unveiled just last month by its artist Jonathon Yeo.

Claiming to have ‘redecorated’ the painting, protestors covered the monarch’s face with a cut-out image of Wallace, from cartoon show Wallace and Gromit, attaching a large speech bubble that reads: ‘No cheese Gromit! Look at all this cruelty on RSPCA farms!’

The vandals have said they want the stunt to bring attention to their long-running investigation of animal treatment in RSPCA farms, dubbed ‘the biggest exposé’ on the issue ‘in history’. Posting a video on Twitter, the animal activists write that ‘King Charles, Patron of the RSPCA, should ask them [RSPCA] to drop the Assured Scheme’ — the organisation’s farming plan that boasts of ‘stringent higher welfare standards’ for livestock. Mr S isn’t quite convinced that desecrating the King’s new portrait will get the group on his good side, however…

‼️BREAKING: No Cheese Gromit! King Charles Portrait Redecorated‼️ @RoyalFamily

‼️Find out why King Charles, Patron of the RSPCA should ask them to drop the Assured Scheme -> https://t.co/pTneW0QCWf 👈 pic.twitter.com/jYLHFuxtHB

— Animal Rising (@AnimalRising) June 11, 2024