Video captures climate activists defacing King Charles III portrait in Scottish National Gallery

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Climate protesters deface King Charles III portrait in Scotland

Two climate activists reportedly have been arrested after defacing a King Charles III portrait in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Credit: This is Rigged/LOCAL NEWS X/TMX)

A video captured the moment two climate protesters defaced a portrait of King Charles III at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh, Scotland, before gluing their hands to the floor. 

The footage emerged as the group they are involved with, called "This is Rigged," released a statement saying it will "continue to take action until the Scottish government vocally opposes all new oil and gas licenses and secure a fair and fully funded transition for workers to renewable energy." 

The two individuals, identified by Police Scotland as a 21 and 28-year-old, have since been taken into custody, and an investigation is ongoing, according to The Edinburgh Reporter. 

Video taken from inside the gallery Wednesday afternoon showed two men spraying pink paint over the portrait of the new monarch, which was commissioned in 2018. 

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The protesters are seen spray-painting on top of a portrait of King Charles III in Edinburgh, Scotland. (This is Rigged/LOCAL NEWS X/TMX)

They first use a stencil to paint what appears to be a noose around Charles’ necktie. 

Then they use another stencil to paint the message "the people are mightier than a lord" on the artwork. 

"If we want to live a future, if the Scottish government wants young people to have a future, they need to oppose all new oil and gas licenses," one of the demonstrators is heard saying in the video after gluing his hand to the floor of the gallery. 

Apparent museum staff then stepped into the frame trying to usher people away from the area. 

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One of the protesters at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery then read a message off of a piece of paper. (This is Rigged/LOCAL NEWS X/TMX)

On its website, the museum says "This portrait of King Charles was painted at Birkhall, on the Balmoral estate in Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire" by Scottish artist Victoria Crowe. 

"Over the course of four sessions with King Charles, Crowe had little time to create preliminary sketches," it said. "She painted directly onto the canvas in order, as far as possible, to complete the portrait during these sittings." 

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Apparent museum staff try to usher onlookers away from the scene at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery on Wednesday. (This is Rigged/LOCAL NEWS X/TMX)

This is Rigged, meanwhile, says on its website to "join us this summer to shut down the oil and gas industry until our demands are met." 

"The world is on fire, with wildfires raging in Algeria, Turkey, Rhodes and Italy, and even Cannich, in the Scottish Highlands for ten days last month. Mainland Europe is enduring temperatures of [118 degrees]," it added in a statement. "Scotland is facing an unprecedented shortage of water, and this is likely the least extreme summer of the rest of our lives."