A strange ceremonial royal portrait in the colour red of Britain’s King Charles III has been unveiled. King Charles III himself unveiled the portrait at the Buckingham Palace in London on Wednesday May 15.
This is the King’s first official royal portrait since the coronation. In May last year, King Charles III was crowned in a lavish coronation ceremony at London’s Westminster Abbey.
The first official painted portrait of King Charles III since his coronation has been unveiled at Buckingham Palace. pic.twitter.com/XLBMg1WxgE
— Historic Vids (@historyinmemes) May 15, 2024
The video of the unveiling of the oil painting was released on social media. It went viral soon after its release.
Description of the portrait
The 230 cm long and 165.5 cm (7.5 ft by 5.4 ft) canvas is painted by Jonathan Yeo. He also previously painted portraits of King Charles’ wife queen Camilla in 2014 and his father Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in 2008.
The portrait of Charles III attempts to depict the British monarch wearing the uniform of the Welsh Guards. It has extensive use of red which is very different from any of the usual royal portraits. Due to which this picture has now become a topic of discussion.
The image shows the King, who is currently undergoing cancer treatment, in the red uniform of the Welsh Guards against a red background. The portrait also shows a sword in hand of the king and a red butterfly flying along his shoulder. According to the artist, the tiny creature symbolizes King Charles III’s efforts to protect the environment.
Charles III was diagnosed with cancer in February this year. Since then he refrained from performing all kinds of duties in public. However, at the beginning of this month, he returned to duty again.
Jonathan Yeo’s statement after the unveiling
At the unveiling ceremony, Yeo said in a statement, “It was a privilege and pleasure to have been commissioned by The Drapers’ Company to paint this portrait of His Majesty The King, the first to be unveiled since his Coronation.
“When I started this project,” he continued, “His Majesty The King was still His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, and much like the butterfly I’ve painted hovering over his shoulder, this portrait has evolved as the subject’s role in our public life has transformed.
“I do my best to capture the life experiences and humanity etched into any individual sitter’s face, and I hope that is what I have achieved in this portrait. To try and capture that for His Majesty The King, who occupies such a unique role, was both a tremendous professional challenge, and one which I thoroughly enjoyed and am immensely grateful for.”
Public opinion about the portrait
The takes from social media users were predictably more brutal. Among the associations brought up: “Archdemon of Hell,” “Satan,” “bathing in blood,” “surrounded by the spilled blood of the British Empire,” “a portal into the nether realm,” a literally firestorm of controversy. Those were just the most family-friendly takes; it gets worse from there, as it usually does on X these days.
King’s opinion on the portrait
As for the King’s opinion of the portrait, Yeo told the BBC that he “was initially mildly surprised by the strong colour but otherwise he seemed to be smiling approvingly.”
The portrait of King Charles III will remain on display at the Philip Mould Gallery until mid-June, when it will move to Drapers’ Hall in London.
