'Looks like Extinction Rebellion already got to it!' Martin Daubney slams King Charles's new portrait

'Looks like Extinction Rebellion already got to it!' Martin Daubney slams King Charles's new portrait

Martin Daubney slams King's new portrait

GB News
Gabrielle Wilde

By Gabrielle Wilde


Published: 14/05/2024

- 20:22

Updated: 15/05/2024

- 07:39

The first official portrait of King Charles since his Coronation has been unveiled at Buckingham Palace this afternoon

GB News host Martin Daubney has slammed the new portrait of King Charles claiming that it "looks like Extinction Rebellion already got to it".

It comes after the first official portrait of King Charles since his Coronation was unveiled at Buckingham Palace this afternoon.


The portrait was commissioned in 2020 to celebrate the then Prince of Wales’s 50 years as a member of The Drapers’ Company in 2022.

Speaking to royal expert Michael Cole, Martin said: "Michael, it's very red to be uncharitable. It looks a bit like Extinction Rebellion might have already got to it."

King Charles portraitThe first official portrait of King Charles since his Coronation has been unveiled at Buckingham Palace this afternoonPA

Cole responded: "Well, of course, it's the Welsh shades. And red is very much part of the tunic. Red is very much part of the Welsh dragon. But you know something?

"This guy is an absolutely brilliant portraitist. When Prince Charles was young, he did a portrait of him sitting in a canvas chair, looking very contemplative at a polo. It was a brilliant portrait.

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"He also did that portrait of the two brothers, William and Harry, in their household cavalry uniform, standing together casually. He's absolutely wonderful."

He later added: "But I think it's rather strange. You get the portrait of the King looking out in monochrome, almost, from this sea of red."

The vivid design - which measures 8ft 15in by 6ft 15in - is by artist Jonathan Yeo, who also painted Tony Blair, Sir David Attenborough and Malala Yousafzai.

After the unveiling, Yeo said he would "love to take full credit for that" but it was "actually the subject’s idea".

Martin Daubney, Michael Cole

Martin said that it "looks like XR have already reached it"

GB News

Following his speech, the King joked: "It’s nice to know I was a chrysalis when you first met me," which was met with laughter.

The bright red colour - which was painted over much of the portrait - was used to give the work more of a "dynamic and contemporary feel", according to Yeo.

Yeo said: "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.

King Charles

It was the first portrait of the King since the coronation

Getty

"When I started this project, 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 etched into any individual sitter's face.

"In this case, my aim was also to make reference to the traditions of Royal portraiture but in a way that reflects a 21st Century Monarchy and, above all else, to communicate the subject's deep humanity.

"I’m unimaginably grateful for the opportunity to capture such an extraordinary and unique person, especially at the historic moment of becoming King."

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