Britain’s King Charles III has unveiled his first official portrait as monarch at Buckingham Palace before it is hung in Drapers’ Hall in London, a year after he ascended to the throne. A painting in which the color red predominates and he is seen in the uniform of the Welsh Guards, signed by the portraitist Jonathan Yeo.
Due to the peculiarity of the painting, as expected, the reaction of public opinion, and above all, the internet, offered more controversy than praise.
According to Jonathan Yeo, “it symbolizes both his support for environmental causes and his personal transformation.” In 2020, the artist was commissioned for the portrait on the occasion of celebrating the then Prince of Wales’ 50 years as a member of The Drapers’ Company in 2022, but it was not until 2021 that Charles sat across from the painter.
Baphomet, is that you?
After the unveiling of the painting, the image has generated all kinds of speculation among followers and fans of the British royal family, on social networks the work has received all kinds of qualifiers and interpretations.
“Who approved the new portrait of King Charles III because it looks like he’s in hell?“ shared one X user, formerly called Twitter. Another, in fact, found an image, supposedly satanic, by duplicating the image and placing one next to the other.
“If you reflect the image of King Charles’ portrait released today, look more deeply at the figure in the middle. Hidden from view. Invert it and it becomes clearer. Symbolism is important to certain people,” he shared.
In other publications, they found hidden messages in the painting that resembled Baphomet, a deity used in satanic cults.
On the other hand, others took it humorously and compared the image to scenes from movies such as Star Wars or The Shining. And to the chagrin of a few, they opted to make their own versions of the official portrait.
This story was written in spanish by Daniel Matute in Cultura Colectiva