Climate activists paint over portrait of King in Scottish museum

This is Rigged activists painted over a portrait of King Charles III at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh on Wednesday

Two activists from This Is Rigged painted over a portrait of The King on Wednesday at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery on Wednesday (This Is Rigged/PA)

Climate activists from This Is Rigged have spray-painted on a portrait of the King, the group has claimed.

This is Rigged is a direct-action campaign targetting the Scottish government, demanding they oppose all new fossil fuel projects in Scotland.

Two people from the group have claimed to spray one of the King’s paintings in Edinburgh’s National Portrait Gallery with the words “The people are mightier than the lord”, at around 3 pm on Wednesday (26 July).

One person held a stencil on the glass covering the painting while the other sprayed it with pink paint, the group said.

Ben Taylor, a 28-year-old gardener from Ayrshire who took action, said: “Why does the Scottish government think it’s acceptable to keep allowing new oil and gas projects to go ahead, without even opposing them?

“If we want a future for our young people, they need to oppose all new oil and gas licences.

“This is the most basic step they can take to secure a chance at a liveable future. Until this happens, we will continue to target the Scottish government, forcing them to use the powers they do have to stand up for the people.”

This is Rigged have been participating in a sustained series of actions designed to target key fuel suppliers in Scotland with blockades.

Four occupations took place at Grangemouth and at the NuStar Terminal in Clydebank, with fuel prevented from leaving both terminals, cutting off the majority of Scotland’s petroleum supplies.

On Sunday (23 July), two This is Rigged activists scaled The Kelpies, stating that they would not be “lured underwater” by the fossil fuel industry.

A spokesperson for the National Galleries of Scotland said: “This afternoon there was a protest at National Galleries of Scotland: Portrait. We have closed the Modern Portrait room.

“The rest of the gallery is open as normal for visitors. At the moment we are assessing the impact but there appears to be no sign of damage to any actual artwork.”