Climate Protesters Had Planned to Take King Charles III’s Wax Figure Hostage

The climate change activists had smashed a cake into the face of the waxwork figure in October. The stunt at Madame Tussauds in London prevented the museum from being able to admit customers for almost an hour. The 20-year-old and 29-year-old are now being charged with a combined £3,500 in compensation.

Climate change activists for “Just Stop Oil” recently admitted they considered alternative protest strategies back in October, when they slammed a vegan chocolate cake topped with shaving foam into the face of King Charles III’s wax figure at Madame Tussauds in London. Eilidh McFadden, 20, and Tom Johnson, 29, were found guilty on Tuesday of criminal damage in the incident.

Both denied criminal damage, but Johnsons and McFadden admitted they considered other actions to protest climate change like kidnapping the wax figure, or using the wax figure to present the real King Charles III’s “own words” regarding climate change. The British king has been vocal about environmental issues in the past, but since coming into his role as monarch he is unable to make comments on political policies.

Climate activists have thrown chocolate cake at a Madame Tussauds wax figure of King Charles III in London.

The two protestors are from the environmental group Just Stop Oil and are demanding that the UK government halt all new oil and gas licences. pic.twitter.com/ISjy9JQKGd

— Euronews Green (@euronewsgreen) October 24, 2022

“When we were designing the action, we considered other actions such as holding hostage the figure of King Charles III and broadcasting his own words. We agreed that could've been extremely disturbing or frightening to anyone on the scene,” Johnson told the court.

“So we decided to stand next to him and calmly quote his words. Unfortunately, the noise level in the room was quite loud and we had to shout but the substances we used were carefully chosen to cause as little damage as possible.”

The two will be charged with £3,500 in compensation to the museum after the company argued the waxwork required cleaning and repainting. They argued to the court that some staff had to work an additional five hours, and that admission to the museum was halted for nearly an hour. It's estimated the museum closing prevented up to 900 customers from being admitted to the tourist attraction.

Johnson, who is a self-employed artist with no previous convictions was given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £1,750 in compensation and another £250 in costs.

McFadden, who has three previous convictions for aggravated trespass was ordered to pay the same amount in compensation and costs and handed down a 12-month community order, including 80 hours of unpaid work.

“Putting a custard pie on a waxwork model of King Charles is not going to convince anyone about climate change, it is a totally trivial action,” argued the prosecution.

However, the protesters disagreed.

“I think the level of disruption and damage felt by Merlin Entertainment should be considered seeing as they are one of the largest firms in the entertainment sector; they own Legoland and Disney World, and this is really minor for them,” Johnson told the court.

“Shaving foam on a waxwork is nothing compared to the damage we see from the climate crisis,” argued McFadden.