Climate activists smear chocolate cake on King Charles III’s wax statue at Madame Tussauds in London

The video shows two protestors taking over the royal display at the museum, removing their outerwear to reveal the 'Just Stop Oil' t-shirts and vandalising the King's statue with a frosted cake

By: Lifestyle Desk

New Delhi | October 25, 2022 12:30 PM IST

4 min read

According to reports, the Metropolitan police have arrested four people for criminal damage (Source: Reuters)

Days after protestors from a UK environmental coalition, ‘Just Stop Oil’, vandalised Vincent van Gogh’s famous painting ‘Sunflowers’ at the National Gallery in London, the activists on Monday smeared chocolate cake on a wax statue of Britain’s King Charles III at London’s Madame Tussauds museum. According to the demonstrators, they were demanding the government to halt “all new oil and gas licences and consent”.

The video shows two protestors taking over the royal display at the museum, removing their outerwear to reveal the ‘Just Stop Oil’ t-shirts and vandalising the King‘s statue with a frosted cake. “The science is clear. The demand is simple: just stop new oil and gas. It’s a piece of cake,” Ellie MacFadden, a protestor, was quoted as saying by BBC.

“We are here because we seek to protect our freedoms and rights, because we seek to protect this green and pleasant land which is the inheritance of us all. Last year, at [climate change conference] Cop 26 in Glasgow, Queen Elizabeth said: ‘The time for words has moved to the time for action’.”

Confirming the incident, the popular wax museum tweeted: “At approximately 10.50 am today (Oct 24) protestors entered the ‘World Stage’ Zone at Madame Tussauds London and appeared to throw what is believed to be cake at our figures of The Royal Family.”

“Our security team dealt with the incident quickly and we are working closely with the Metropolitan Police on this matter. The attraction remains open, with our Royal Family set closed temporarily,” it added.

According to reports, the Metropolitan police have arrested four people for criminal damage.

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Earlier this month, activists had thrown tomato soup over van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’ which has since been cleaned and put back on display. According to the gallery, the painting remained undamaged as it was covered by glass.

Recently, another German environmental group Letzte Generation (Last Generation) threw mashed potatoes over Claude Monet’s ‘Les Meules’ painting at Museum Barberini in Potsdam. “We are in a climate catastrophe and all you are afraid of is tomato soup or mashed potatoes on a painting. You know what I’m afraid of? I’m afraid because science tells us that we won’t be able to feed our families in 2050,” the protestor was quoted as saying by The Guardian.

“Does it take mashed potatoes on a painting to make you listen? This painting is not going to be worth anything if we have to fight over food. When will you finally start to listen? When will you finally start to listen and stop business as usual?”

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