The official portrait painting of King Charles III was revealed a few days ago, but that doesn't mean the conspiracy theories about it have died down. The artwork shows King Charles in his uniform as a member of the Welsh Guards.

The painting is dominated by a vibrant red color and was created by Jonathan Yeo, who has also painted Tony Blair, Sir David Attenborough and Malala Yousafzai. Yeo is quite a famous painter among the most influential people in politics and beyond. Even Queen Camilla liked Yeo's work, telling him that yes, he had fixed King Charles.

The king appears with a sword in his hand and a butterfly by his shoulder.

The painting in question has activated people on social networks, who have written some very interesting conspiracy theories, since the moment when the painting was presented at Buckingham Palace. Many of them claim that vivid red is associated with blood and the devil. "The king has blood on his hands"; "The king is possessed by sin", were some of the claims.

A viral video suggests that if the painting is copied and placed backwards, in parallel, Baphomet (a half-human, half-animal, goat-headed creature painted by Éliphas Lévi in ??the 1800s) is revealed . Some people called the work "the epitome of evil".

Someone wrote on X: “Who the hell approved the portrait of Charles? It looks like it's in hell!"

On the other hand, the painter explained that in the painting he presented some of the old traditions of portraits of members of the royal palace, starting from the pose, from the military uniform, the sword, but still, he wanted to bring a more modern approach, which was manifested in deep colors and in butterflies. "In the history of art, the butterfly symbolizes metamorphosis and rebirth," he explained.

Also, the butterfly is a reference to the great interest that King Charles has shown for the environment and nature. The painter confessed that he and King Charles talked about the possibility of telling the story through the portrait. "I asked him what message he wanted to give to children in schools when they see his portrait, 200 years from now?", said Yeo and added that the idea of ??the butterfly on the shoulder was the king's own.

The painting was created when Charles was still the Prince of Wales and was first shown at Highgrove (Charles and Camilla's family residence) in June 2021.

Based on Yeo's account, some people think it's just the artist's imagination and that's it. There is no need to find so many theories in art.