Tories blow £8million giving council offices free portraits of the King

01 April 2023 , 21:30

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Councils can apply for a free portrait of King Charles - but it won't be the painting released this week (Image: PA)

Ministers are set to blow £8 million supplying free portraits of the King to council offices across the country.

Council officials will be able to apply for a free, framed portrait of King Charles, as part of a scheme to “celebrate his new reign.”

The offer will also be open to courts, schools, police forces and fire and rescue services following the coronation on May 6.

Tory minister Oliver Dowden, said: "We have entered a new reign in our history.

“Now as we unite in preparing for the splendour of The King's Coronation, these new portraits will serve as a visible reminder in buildings up and down the country of the nation's ultimate public servant.”

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But Graham Smith, Chief Executive of the anti-monarchist group Republic, branded the plan a “shameful waste of money.”

Top Tory Oliver Dowden said King Charles was "the nation's ultimate public servant" (PA)

“At a time when a majority of local councils are raising taxes and cutting public services, when schools and hospitals are struggling, to spend even £1 on this nonsense would be £1 too much,” he said.

“Surely if anyone really wants an official portrait he can stump up the cost. The government has lost the plot if they think people want their money spent on pictures of Charles.”

He added: “The coronation is estimated to cost anything from £50-£100m – and we can see why. This waste is absolutely scandalous.”

The first official painted portrait of King Charles was released this week - an oil painting by artist Alastair Barford showing the monarch in a blue, pinstripe suit.

But it’s understood the portraits distributed under the scheme will be official photographs of the King, to be released by Buckingham Palace in the coming weeks.

The Cabinet Office said the move follows in a tradition which has seen many institutions display official portraits of Queen Elizabeth II.

Mikey Smith