King Charles 2026 Easter celebrations are not off to a great start.. The King was met with a glaring anti-monarchy message outside the Welsh church where he and Queen Camilla went to attend the Royal Maundy Service.. King Charles is no stranger to public antagonism. He has been heckled and booed by protesters over the years in London, Australia, York, and Milton Keynes since his ascension to the throne. Notably, while he was still the Prince of Wales, eggs were thrown at him by protesters during a visit to Canada.. ZUMAPRESS.com / MEGA. To attend the Royal Maundy Service at St. Asaph Cathedral in north Wales this year, King Charles and Queen Camilla arrived to meet a sight for sore eyes. The walls outside the church were desecrated with an anti-monarchy message before their arrival. The words “Not our King” were boldly written in red ink across one of the walls of the ancient cathedral.. King Charles arrived to lead a royal Easter tradition with his Queen for the second time ever in Wales. The local council quickly got to work trying to remove the graffiti and later covered it with a tarpaulin while investigations into the culprits are ongoing. The words splashed in red spray are a popular slogan of the anti-monarchy group Republic, which staged a demonstration outside the Royal Maundy Service on Thursday.. The Republic is yet to take responsibility for defacing the cathedral walls, nor have they been officially charged for the demonstration. PEOPLE shared that Republic CEO Graham Smith explained why activists were protesting in North Wales. In a released statement, Smith stated that the public wants answers, saying “Charles shouldn’t be able to avoid questions about his complicity in the Andrew scandal,” in reference to the ex-Prince Andrew’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein.. Mirrorpix / MEGA. While this is only the second time in history that the service has been held in Wales, it has been a long-standing tradition of the Royal family. The service dates far back to 600AD and just like the late Queen Elizabeth upheld the tradition, King Charles is following suit.. The first time the Royal Maundy Service, which commemorates the Maundy Thursday Christian holy day on the Thursday before Easter, was held in Wales was in 1982. Queen Elisabeth during her reign ensured that the event was held at different cathedrals and abbeys around the United Kingdom. Part of the Service involves the sovereign distributing special coins, also known as Maundy money, to local pensioners and retirees.. This act is to symbolize Jesus washing the Apostles’ feet at the Last Supper. The late Queen’s line of reasoning followed that the Maundy money should not be exclusively distributed to the people of London. Hence, the event should be held at different worship grounds across the U.K.. ZUMAPRESS.com / MEGA. Not only do the words demonstrate a revolt against the monarchy, but they are also against colonialism. In 2024, an Aboriginal Australian senator, Lidia Thorpe,
