In a bold and unexpected move, animal rights activists have aimed at a portrait of King Charles, pasting over his face with the iconic animated character Wallace from the beloved British stop-motion comedy franchise “Wallace and Gromit.” The incident occurred at the Philip Mould Gallery in central London, where the first official portrait of the King, painted by artist Jonathan Yeo, was recently unveiled following his coronation.
The altered portrait now features a speech bubble reading, “No cheese, Gromit. Look at all this cruelty on RSPCA farms.” The message is a pointed reference to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), an organization that the King supports as its Royal Patron.
Animal Rising, a group advocating for animal welfare, claimed responsibility for the stunt. According to Daniel Juniper, one of the activists involved, their intention was to draw attention to alleged cruelty reported on RSPCA-assured farms. Juniper stated, “Even though we hope this is amusing to His Majesty, we also call on him to seriously reconsider his association with the awful suffering across farms endorsed by the RSPCA.”
The group’s website features a post urging the King to take action and encourage the RSPCA to drop its ethical food labelling scheme. They argue that the scenes witnessed across 45 RSPCA-assured farms reveal that there is no humane way to farm animals.
Spokesperson Orla Coghlan emphasised the severity of the issue, comparing it to the cunning tactics of Feathers McGraw, the notorious penguin villain from “Wallace and Gromit.” Coghlan stated, “The RSPCA has been fooling the British public into thinking their factory farms are acceptable places for animals to live.”
The portrait itself depicts King Charles in the uniform of the Welsh Guards, a regiment he became colonel of in 1975. Originally commissioned in 2020 to commemorate his 50 years as a member of The Draper’s Company, the portrait was created by artist Jonathan Yeo during sittings at both Highgrove in Gloucestershire and Clarence House in London.
As the controversy unfolds, the King faces a delicate decision: whether to maintain his support for the RSPCA or heed the activists’ call for change. The unexpected fusion of art, activism, and animation has thrust the issue of animal welfare into the spotlight, leaving the public eagerly awaiting the King’s response.
