The first official portrait of King Charles III has been vandalized by a group of British animal rights activists.
Activists from Animal Rising, a non-violent organization campaigning for an “urgent transition to a sustainable and just plant-based food system”, pasted posters of the Wallace and Gromit animation film series on the painting of the monarch.
They said they had “redecorated” the portrait by Jonathan Yeo in the Philip Mould Gallery in London, which was unveiled last month. It is the first since his coronation, and drew mixed reactions when it was presented.
The sovereign's face was covered by a poster featuring the face of Wallace's character, accompanied by a speech bubble that read: “No cheese, Gromit. Look at all this cruelty on RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) farms!”
The activists were criticising the welfare standards of RSPCA "assured farm" status, with King Charles being a patron of the RSPCA.
In a statement provided to British newspaper The Telegraph, an Animal Rising activist explained: “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.”
Animal Rising has called on the monarch to suspend his support for the charity, as they recently put out a report that says its members visited 45 different farms that had won the RSPCA Assured stamp of approval and found “factory farming and severe animal cruelty on every single one.”
The gallery said the incident had been over quickly and that no harm had been done to the artwork.
The RSPCA responded to Animal Rising’s claims in a statement, stating that “any concerns about welfare on RSPCA Assured certified farms are taken extremely seriously and RSPCA Assured is acting swiftly to look into these allegations.”
“We have responded openly and transparently to Animal Rising’s challenges to our farming work,” the statement continued. “While we understand that Animal Rising, like us, want the best for animals, their activity is a distraction and a challenge to the work we are all doing to create a better world for every animal.”
The organization also said it was “shocked” by the act. “We welcome scrutiny of our work, but we cannot condone illegal activity of any kind.”
