New King Charles portrait vandalised by animal rights activists who turned it into Wallace and Gromit character

The new King Charles portrait has been vandalised by animal rights activists who turned it into a Wallace and Gromit character.

Campaigners from group Animal Rising covered the King's face with the iconic animated character, Wallace.

The portrait, painted by Jonathan Yeo, was unveiled at Buckingham Palace in May (sparking a whole load of viral memes) and has been up on public display at London's Philip Mould Gallery.

And Animal Rising confirmed two of its supporters headed in there today (11 June) and plastered two posters on top of the royal.

The group said that this demonstration was aimed at highlighting the group’s 'damning investigation' into 45 RSPCA 'assured' farms.

The King is royal patron of the RSPCA and the group is calling on him to suspend his support.

Daniel Juniper, a former early years practitioner and one of those involved, said: “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.

“Even though we hope this is amusing to His Majesty, we also call on him to seriously reconsider if he wants to be associated with the awful suffering across farms being endorsed by the RSPCA.

“Charles has made it clear he is sensitive to the suffering of animals in UK farms; now is the perfect time for him to step up and call on the RSPCA to drop the Assured Scheme and tell the truth about animal farming.”

Once a big portrait of the King, it now features Wallace's head and a speech bubble, reading: "No cheese, Gromit. Look at all this cruelty on RSPCA farms!”

Animal Rising's report was released on Sunday and contains alleged findings from investigations on 45 farms across the UK featuring chickens, pigs, salmon, and trout.

It alleges 280 legal breaches and 94 breaches of Defra (Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) regulations, with Animal Rising calling on the RSPCA to drop the scheme.

The group describes itself as a non-violent, people-powered organisation working towards a sustainable future where humanity shares a positive relationship with animals and nature.

An RSPCA spokesperson told LADbible: "We are shocked by this vandalism of His Majesty King, our Patron’s, portrait. We welcome scrutiny of our work, but we cannot condone illegal activity of any kind. Our staff and volunteers work extremely hard rescuing, caring for, and speaking up for animals. Animal Rising’s sustained activity is distracting from our focus on the work that really matters - helping thousands of animals every day.

"We remain confident that our RSPCA Assured scheme is the best way to help farmed animals right now, while campaigning to change their lives in the future. RSPCA higher welfare standards have been independently proven to make lives better for millions of animals every year. It is the difference between a hen spending her life in a cage, or not. A mother pig giving birth in a farrowing crate, or not. Pigs having comfortable bedding to sleep on, or not. It means salmon have compulsory veterinary health welfare plans, and stocking density is half that seen in America. An independent review of RSPCA Assured in 2021 found it was making a ‘positive and significant impact on improving the lives of 136 million animals a year in the UK’.

"However, any concerns about welfare on RSPCA Assured certified farms are taken extremely seriously and RSPCA Assured is acting swiftly to look into these allegations. After receiving the footage on Sunday, RSPCA Assured has launched an immediate, urgent investigation. We have responded openly and transparently to Animal Rising’s challenges to our farming work. While we understand that Animal Rising, like us, want the best for animals, their activity is a distraction and a challenge to the work we are all doing to create a better world for every animal."