The Internet Thinks King Charles’ Red Portrait Has Been ‘Improved’ by Animal Rights Activists

When King Charles III revealed his first official picture as King in May, the internet may have gone crazy with disses on the portrait with unorthodox vibrant reds and powerful strokes.

However, less than 2 months after being unveiled, the portrait underwent a contentious alteration. Vandalized by the animal rights organization Animal Rising to raise awareness as it was on exhibit at the Philip Mould Gallery in London, the portrait is now an upgrade according to some netizens.

The campaigners, who swapped out King Charles’ visage with that of Wallace, the popular character from the cartoon series Wallace and Gromit, inserted a speech bubble on the portrait, which said, “No Cheese, Gromit. Look At All This Cruelty On RSPCA Farms,” The Guardian reported. Social media users quickly shared their thoughts, with many claiming that the vandalized version was now better than the original.

One user commented , “Lord. I didn’t think they could improve on that Tampon Devilry Rising Portrait of King Charles. But they did.” Yet another user approved of the humorous twist, stating , “I approve of the Wallaceification of portraits of multimillionaires.”

The reactions were diverse but predominantly positive towards the alteration, with one user even jesting , “[laughing emoji] How many of you think this is an improvement to the King Charles portrait?? [raising hand emoji]”

Another echoed this sentiment, stating , “That’s a much better portrait! And a vital message to #RSPCA to drop its Assured scheme and stop promoting animal suffering.”

A user slammed the royals for their relationship to animal rights, “That portrait is [poop emoji], too. Charles & the royals do not care about animals; they continually exploit them. Hounds, horses, foxes are just meat & sport to them.”

A user attacked , “Not only does it demonstrate Tampax Charlie’s hypocrisy but it’s also a vast improvement.” A user appreciated the intent of the activists, saying , “Finally! Some art vandalism-based activism I can get behind!” Many users also said that the critics of the vandals is uncalled for, suggesting , “If you don’t think this is ridiculously funny (and brilliant) there’s no hope for you.”

Animal Rising shared their reasons on social media, stressing that it was intended to be a serious call to action as well as a lighthearted tribute to Charles’s fondness for Wallace and Gromit. The group said on X, “The lighthearted act played on the King’s love of Wallace and Gromit and his status as Royal Patron of the @RSPCA_official.” The group added, “Animal Rising has called on the King to suspend his support for the charity until they drop the Assured Scheme.”

Pointing out the suffering of animals on RSPCA Assured farms, campaigner Daniel Juniper urged Charles to reevaluate his affiliation with the organization in a statement on the Animal Rising website.

“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!”