King Charles III’s trashed portrait coincides with his burger launch

Vegan activists* have vandalised* the first official portrait of King Charles III since his coronation* by covering it with posters of an animated character from the Wallace and Gromit films.

Campaigners* from the group Animal Rising pasted the posters onto the blood-red painting hung at the Philip Mould Gallery in London on Tuesday.

The activists claimed responsibility for the act, posting a video of two of its supporters putting the face of Wallace onto the head of the monarch* on the painting by Jonathan Yeo.

They glued a cartoon speech bubble onto the artwork, which read: “No cheese, Gromit. Look at all this cruelty on RSPCA farms!”

A statement from the group said they had chosen to “redecorate” the portrait of the King to bring attention to animal cruelty and Animal Rising’s “damning investigation” into 45 RSPCA* farms.

The King is royal patron of the RSPCA and Animal Rising called on the monarch to suspend his support for the charity.

Buckingham Palace* has not commented on the attack.

The protesters played on the monarch’s love of the claymation* characters for maximum attention, saying they hoped the royal found their stunt “amusing”.

“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*,” activist Daniel Juniper posted on social media.

The portrait was not damaged because it sits behind a clear perspex* covering.

The attack came as the King launched a new menu in the family restaurant located at his Sandringham royal residence* featuring burgers for £14.50 (or $A28). It is unclear if the two events are related.

The monarch’s menu offers a “farm to fork*” experience with a range of organic* burgers, including homemade lamb, beef and venison burgers.

GLOSSARY

• vegan activists: people who take action to promote and encourage the adoption of a vegan lifestyle
• vandalised: to deliberately destroy or damage something
• coronation: the ceremony to crown a king or queen
• campaigners: a person who works in an organised and active way towards a goal
• monarch: sovereign head of state, especially a king, queen, or emperor
• RSPCA: The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
• Buckingham Palace: headquarters for the royal family
• claymation: a method of film animation using adjustable clay figures and stop-motion photography
• RSPCA assured farms: farms said to have to higher welfare standards
• royal residence: home of the royal family
• farm to fork: the various parts the food chain from growing it on the farm to eating it
• organic: things that are natural

EXTRA READING

King Charles crowned at coronation

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QUICK QUIZ

1. Who took responsibility for the vandalism and why?
2. What do they want King Charles to change?
3. Why was Wallace’s face placed on the artwork?
4. Who painted the portrait?
5. How did the painting remain undamaged?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Who is the RSPCA?
What exactly is the RSPCA? Find out what this organisation does in Australia. Use the information that you have found to write a report about their work.

Time: allow at least 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English

2. Extension
“Damaging a painting is not the right way to get your message across.”

Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Write a very convincing paragraph. Use information in the story to help you.

Time: allow at least 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social Capability

VCOP ACTIVITY
Opener up-level it
Make a list of all the openers in the article. Pick three that repeat and see if you can replace them with another word, or shuffle the order of the sentence to bring a new opener to the front.

Don’t forget to re-read the sentence to make sure it still makes sense, and that it actually sounds better.