Environmental activists spray paint a portrait of King Charles III on display in Scotland, to protest against oil and gas projects.
On July 26, two members of the climate activist group “This is Rigged” sprayed pink paint on the glass of a portrait of King Charles III at the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh. They drew the group’s flame symbol with the words “the people are stronger than the lord”. This is the slogan from the late 19th century of the Scottish Highland Land League, which fought for farmers’ rights.
The two young men then sat on the ground, smeared glue on their hands and stuck them to the gallery floor. Both, 21 and 28 years old, were arrested an hour later. The gallery is assessing the impact of the incident, but said there appeared to be no damage to the artwork.
Two activists spray paint on a portrait of King Charles III in Edinburgh, July 26. Video: NY Post
The group “This is Rigged” asked the Scottish government to stop all oil and gas activities and implement “reasonable transformation, fully funded workers”. The group vowed to “shut down the Scottish oil industry” and not stop working until the authorities responded to the request.
“If Scotland and its people want a ‘liveable’ future, they need to oppose all oil and gas activities,” one of the two young men spray-painted on a painting of King Charles III said as he sat on the floor.
The remaining youth cited the current extreme heat wave in Southern Europe as an urgent reason for Scotland to abandon fossil fuels. “Scotland is Europe’s largest oil producer and emissions affect everyone.”
A series of vandalism protests have taken place in Europe since last year, with many masterpieces being targeted. In October 2022, four members of “Just Stop Oil” were arrested for smearing cream cake on the face of a wax figure of King Charles III at Madame Tussauds in London.
King Charles III cares about the matter environment and has spoken out about climate change long before taking the throne. At the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2020, he said global warming, climate change and severe biodiversity loss are “the greatest threats humanity has ever faced. face”.