King Charles' Portrait Looks Like A Ghostbusters 2 Villain & Twitter Is Dying
The worlds of royalty and art collided on May 14 when the official portrait of King Charles III of the United Kingdom was unveiled. The oil painting by artist Jonathan Yeo is quite different from the pictures of monarchs you may have seen at the museum, to say the least. The color red dominates the entire unconventional artwork, and the internet being the internet, people's minds soon went to a very particular pop culture equivalent: the haunted painting of the villainous Vigo the Carpathian (Wilhelm von Homburg and Max Von Sydow) from "Ghostbusters 2."
Who wore it better? King Charles or Vigo the Carpathian from Ghostbusters 2 pic.twitter.com/NH61S2Dlnk
— .. (@adamanska) May 14, 2024
X, formerly known as Twitter, had a field day comparing the overall vibes in the portraits of the very real King of Britain and the extremely fictional tyrant of Moldavia. Users like @Jiffschwazz, @MarkAParish, @dreamosaurus, and @WardrobeDoor all made similar observations about the resemblance. Meanwhile, @kilgallon84 took things one step further by photoshopping the king's portrait into an ominous "Ghostbusters 2" scene where Dr. Janosz Poha (Peter MacNicol) worships it inside a circle of candles. "The King Charles portrait wouldn't look out of place in Ghostbusters 2," the user wrote.
The King Charles portrait is a deliberate break from norm
Vigo's contribution to the entire "Ghostbusters" timeline is arguably the worst "Ghostbusters" movie out there, but the villain's scowling portrait remains one of the most recognizable items in the franchise. Despite his relatively small role in the grander lore as opposed to, say, Gozer, the Carpathian is still canon in "Ghostbusters: Afterlife," and beyond — and the collective headcanon on X is evidently keen to insert King Charles in the mix, as well.
Of course, despite the striking red hues of the monarch's official portrait, Jonathan Yeo didn't set out to pay homage to the famous horror comedy painting. Instead, he told the BBC that he simply tried to create something different, playing with color and symbolism — such as the butterfly near the king's shoulder. "My interest is really in figuring out who someone is and trying to get that on a canvas," the artist described his process.
It's unclear whether King Charles himself is aware of the Vigo the Carpathian memes and if so, what he thinks of them. However, Yeo did note that Queen Camilla approved of the painting, and that the king also gave his seal of approval when he saw the work in progress — at least, kind of. "He was initially mildly surprised by the strong color but otherwise he seemed to be smiling approvingly," Yeo said.