The portrait of King Charles III has been vandalized by environmental activists at the National Gallery of Scotland, located in Edinburgh. This act took place despite the fact that the monarch has long championed environmental causes. Two members of the climate action group 'This is Rigged' staged a protest around 2 p.m. and used hot pink spray paint to affix the group's flame logo to the body of King Charles III. Additionally, they inscribed the slogan "the people are mightier than a lord" in the background of the portrait, as reported by the Herald Scotland newspaper.
The slogan used by the protesters apparently stems from the history of the Highland Land League, a 19th century movement that also used direct protest techniques such as rent strikes and land grabs to win rights for evicted peasants of their ancestral lands by the landowners.
The 'This is Rigged' group have issued specific demands to the Scottish Government, demanding a halt to all future oil and gas licenses, as well as the creation of a 'fair and fully funded transition for workers in the oil sector.
In protest, the group also threatened to "shut down Scotland's oil industry" and to continue its actions until the government meets its demands. Protesters expressed outrage at the Scottish government's decision to continue to allow new oil and gas projects unchallenged, saying it would jeopardize the future of younger generations.
Following this act of vandalism, the Modern Portraits Exhibition Hall was closed for the rest of the day, but the rest of the gallery remained open to visitors. Luckily, it appears that no actual artwork was damaged in the incident.
Shortly after the act of vandalism, the two young demonstrators, aged 21 and 28, were arrested by the police. It is not the first time that activists from the group 'This is Rigged' have acted in a similar way, as in October last year four protesters from the same group were arrested in London after shoving cake in their faces of a wax statue of King Charles III, located in Madame Tussauds.
It should be noted that King Charles III always showed his support for environmental causes and spoke out on climate change long before his accession to the throne. At the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2020, when he was still a prince, he told London's The Times newspaper that "global warming, climate change and the devastating loss of biodiversity" posed "the biggest threats humankind has ever faced".
Selena Mattei