The mural of King Charles is next to one of Queen Elizabeth II (Picture: SWNS)
A town’s royal mural has been criticised for its depiction of King Charles, with one local saying: ‘It’s only the ears which really tell you it’s him.’
The £1,720 artwork was unveiled in Northampton town centre at the beginning of last month, and depicts the King alongside his late mother Queen Elizabeth II.
It was created to mark the historic end of one reign and the beginning of another following the Queen’s death in September.
But disgruntled locals claim it is more likely to make people think of Spitting Image.
Kerry Bellingham, 33, said: ‘There’s no doubt the area needed a bit of colour but I fear it’s made us a bit of a laughing stock.
‘The one of the Queen isn’t too bad but I’ve seen people having selfies with the Charles one while laughing their heads off. It just doesn’t look like him.
‘The eyes are weirdly too close together, his hair is all wrong and it’s only the ears which really tells you it is him.’
Does the mural capture a likeness or fall flat? (Picture: PA)
The mural cost £1,720 and was put together by Liam Freeman and Mez White of the artistic collective Spraycatz.
It was paid with Northampton Town Councillor Nazim Choudary’s community fund.
There is a scheme that grants £2,000 to each member of the council to ‘make a positive impact’.
Commenting on Facebook, Mark Jacques said: ‘What a waste of taxpayer’s money.
‘There are plenty of other things that money could have used for to help people out.’
One commenter also criticised the quality of the wooden graffiti boards behind the artwork (Picture: SWNS)
Tina Crawford added: ‘King Charles looks more like his spitting image puppet I’m afraid.’
Also on Facebook, Harvey Ward wrote: ‘Looks like Charlie’s been on the Scotch.’
But the town’s councillors were less scathing in their assessment of the artwork.
Jane Birch said: ‘The accession of King Charles III starts a new chapter of our monarchy and the Town Council thought it fitting to mark such an historical occasion with a visual tribute, in the form of this mural, to our past and future monarchs.’
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One local claimed he looks like he’s ‘been on the Scotch’.
