Fowl play: Activists stick cartoon face on King Charles portrait
A well-known cartoon character has been pasted on a King Charles portrait by animal activists in the latest incident of art vandalism by campaigners.
Footage from campaign group Animal Rising shows two of its supporters approaching the portrait in Londonās Philip Mould gallery, and overlaying the kingās face with a big cartoon image of Wallace from the Wallace and Gromit animated comedy franchise.
They also pasted a large speech bubble, saying: āNo cheese, Gromit. Look at all this cruelty on RSPCA farms!ā
The aim of the supportersā actions, Animal Rising said, was to highlight cruelty on farms granted āAssuredā status, a guarantee of higher welfare standards, by the RSPCA animal charity of which Charles is the patron.
The RSPCA wasnāt impressed.
āWe are shocked by this vandalism of His Majesty King, our Patronās, portrait. We welcome scrutiny of our work, but we cannot condone illegal activity of any kind,ā an RSPCA spokesperson said, adding the charity took any allegations about its Assured certified farms seriously.
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The attack is the latest by activists on artwork in Britain. Climate protesters in May attempted to smash the case holding an original Magna Carta text in the British Library, and threw soup over Vincent van Goghās painting Sunflowers at Londonās National Gallery in October.
āWith King Charles being such a big fan of Wallace and Gromit, we couldnāt think of a better way to draw his attention to the horrific scenes on RSPCA Assured farms,ā said Daniel Juniper, one of the two activists involved, in a statement on the groupās website.
He hoped Charles would āseriously reconsider if he wants to be associated with the awful suffering across farms being endorsed by the RSPCAā.
Buckingham Palace said it had no comment. Animal Rising said its posters would be easily removable without causing damage to the painting.
The portrait of Charles by artist Jonathan Yeo received a mixed reception after its unveiling in May, with some criticising its vibrant red colour.
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