‘Looks like he’s in hell’: Why King Charles’ first official portrait has left public divided

Britain’s King Charles III’s first official portrait since his coronation has been unveiled. However, it has not garnered responses that Buckingham Palace might have been hoping for.

Social media users have not taken kindly to the 8.5 by 6.5-foot painting that shows larger-than-life King Charles against a backdrop of garish red, pink and fuchsia hues.

Let’s take a closer look.

King Charles’ official portrait

On Tuesday (14 May), Buckingham Palace revealed Charles’ new official portrait by esteemed British artist Jonathan Yeo.

It shows the British monarch wearing the uniform of the Welsh Guards, with a sword in hand and a butterfly hovering over his shoulder.

Charles was made Regimental Colonel in the Welsh Guards in 1975.

The fiery red background seems to consume the King.

🦋 The artist said of the experience of painting The King:

“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… pic.twitter.com/U289q8AlMh

— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) May 14, 2024

The butterfly is a nod to King’s interest in environmental causes that “he has championed most of his life and certainly long before they became a mainstream conversation”, the British artist wrote on his website.

“In the context of art history, a butterfly often the symbol of metamorphosis and rebirth, and thus also parallels the King’s transition from Prince to monarch during the period the portrait was created", the website says.

Yeo started working on the oil painting when Charles was still Prince of Wales. He had four sittings with the King, with the first one at Highgrove in June 2021, reported BBC. These sitting reportedly ended before Charles’ cancer diagnosis.

The artist told BBC that the butterfly was Charles’ idea. “I said, when schoolchildren are looking at this in 200 years and they’re looking at the who’s who of the monarchs, what clues can you give them?

“He said ‘what about a butterfly landing on my shoulder?’”.

Yeo, who has painted the likes of English broadcaster David Attenborough, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, actor Idris Elba and the activist Malala Yousafzai, said in a statement released by the royal family, “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.”

Yeo said on his website that the vivid colours in the background “echo the uniform’s bright red tunic, not only resonating with the royal heritage found in many historical portraits but also injecting a dynamic, contemporary jolt into the genre with its uniformly powerful hue — providing a modern contrast to more traditional depictions.”

The portrait was commissioned by the Drapers’ Company, the City of London livery company which, for centuries, has been collecting royal portraits, reported BBC.

Charles’ painting will hang in Drapers’ Hall in London, which has a gallery of monarchs from King George III to Queen Victoria, according to New York Times (NYT).

It will be exhibited to the public from 16 May to 14 June at the Philip Mould Gallery in London. The painting will hang at Drapers’ Hall by the end of August.

Yeo has also painted Charles’ wife, Queen Camilla, and his father, Prince Philip.

ALSO READ: Who will take over the British throne after King Charles?

‘You’ve got him’

Charles’ portrait received a positive response from Camilla. As per BBC, she looked at the painting and told Yeo: “Yes, you’ve got him.”

The painting caught Charles by surprise.

The King, who got a glimpse of the portrait in its “half-done state”, was “initially mildly surprised by the strong colour but otherwise he seemed to be smiling approvingly”, Yeo told BBC.

The portrait’s unveiling comes just weeks after Charles returned to public duties, nearly three months after he announced he had cancer.

Social media reaction

Social media users have not been happy with Charles’ portrait.

References to ‘blood’ and ‘Hell’ have not been far behind.

A user wrote: “Looks like he’s going straight to hell.”

Some royal watchers commented the painting looks “slightly disturbing” and “like he’s bathing in blood” and “like he’s burning in hell.”

Commenting on an Instagram post on the royal family’s account, a user wrote: “With the uniform and that color it looks like (the) visual representation of the massacre cause by colonisers”.

Another said, “I would have loved this if this was any other color than red. He really captured the essence of him in the face, but the harshness of the red doesn’t match the softness of his expression.”

However, not all disliked the painting.

Art historian Richard Morris wrote on X, “I really like the portrait… before photography, to have a great painter capture your real appearance you accepted the revelation of your flaws and your mortality. It’s what Yeo captures here.”

With inputs from agencies