LONDON—King Charles III’s first official portrait was targeted by animal rights activists on Tuesday who plastered an animation character’s face over the monarch’s head.
The group Animal Rising released a video of people using paint rollers to paste the face of Wallace from “Wallace and Gromit” onto the painting displayed at the Philip Mould Gallery in London. The stunt comes the month after Charles unveiled the striking—and highly controversial—artwork by painter Jonathan Yeo.
In a press release, Animal Rising said its action was intended to call attention to an investigation it had conducted into the “cruelty” it claimed to have uncovered on “RSPCA Assured” farms. Charles is a patron of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
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“The lighthearted action played on the king’s love of Wallace and Gromit and his status as Royal Patron of the RSPCA,” the release said.
The king previously visited Aardman Animation studios and told the creator Nick Park that he watched the Wallace and Gromit films “again and again.”
It also quoted one of the activists involved in the stunt as saying they hoped it would be “amusing to his majesty,” but that he would “seriously reconsider” his patronage of the charity in light of the group’s investigation.
Philip Mould, the art dealer and historian whose gallery was displaying the portrait, told The Daily Beast there was “no damage to the picture” from the protest.
“The stickers that they placed were on for about 10 seconds and then they were removed,” he said. Mould added that he asked the activists to leave the gallery—which they did—and that a police report had been made.
The Daily Beast has contacted the RSPCA for comment.
