Two eco-activists have been charged with damaging or destroying a waxwork of King Charles III in a chocolate cake protest at Madame Tussauds.
Eilidh McFadden, 20, and Tom Johnson, 29, were filmed hitting the Monarch’s waxwork in the face with cake in a Just Stop Oil protest inside the world-famous tourist attraction.
In a speech after the stunt, with cake remnants still covering Charles’ wax face, they decried the “destruction and poisoning of our planet” and called for “immediate action, not just words”.
McFadden and Johnson have now been charged with causing criminal damage to the King’s waxwork on October 24, with the value of the damage estimated to be £170,000.
According to charges laid at Westminster magistrates court, Johnson, from Sunderland, is accused of “damaging” the waxwork belonging to Merlin Entertainment.
McFadden, however, faces an allegation that she “destroyed” the statue during the incident.
They appeared in court on October 25, in a hearing before District Judge John Zani which was not on lists distributed to the media.
According to court records, they were freed on conditional bail until a hearing on November 29 and have been banned from entering London under the terms of their bail.
The Just Stop Oil group posted a video of King Charles on social media following the protest, in which he says: “The battle against climate change is surely the most defining and pivotal challenge of our time.”
The Just Stop Oil activist group is calling for the UK Government to stop granting new oil and gas licenses and consents.
In recent weeks, eco-protestors have thrown mashed potato at Monet’s Haystacks painting in Potsdam, Germany, and covered Van Gogh’s Sunflowers artwork with soup at the National Gallery in London.
Court records show McFadden, from Glasgow, was present in court for last week’s hearing, while Johnson was absent.
Neither are said to have entered pleas to the charge of criminal damage.
