What do you really think about the King's portrait? MailOnline hits the streets of London to find out the public's reaction to Jonathan Yeo's fiery painting of Charles

MailOnline's Liberty Smith asked the public about King Charles's new portrait READ MORE: King Charles' portrait painter Jonathan Yeo admits not everyone will like the 'fiery' painting - and says monarch made no mention of his cancer diagnosis during their sitting 

King Charles's new portrait, unveiled on Tuesday, is nothing if not striking thanks to its scarlet hue.

But whilst some people have praised the painting as 'magnificent', the modern approach has left others, well, perhaps seeing red.

Commissioned back in 2020 to celebrate the then-Prince of Wales's 50 years as a member of The Drapers' Company, the painting is the work of renowned artist Jonathan Yeo.

It depicts His Majesty wearing the uniform of the Welsh Guards, of which he was made Regimental Colonel in 1975.

At almost two-and-a-half metres tall, the portrait will be on display at the Philip Mould Gallery in London from Thursday 16 May, but will people be queuing up to see it?

The portrait of King Charles III by Jonathan Yeo, which was unveiled yesterday, has proved divisive for its scarlet hue

The painting proved divisive even amongst committed royal fans. While the man on the left called the portrait 'magnificent', the man on the right admitted that he didn't like it at all

In a bid to answer that question, MailOnline's Liberty Smith took to the streets of London to find out the public's reaction to the new painting of the King - the first official portrait since he acceded to the throne on 6 May 2023.

Of the people we spoke to, the most enthusiastic about the portrait was, unsurprisingly, a man decked out in King Charles memorabilia.

Wearing a T-shirt printed with the King's face and a hat accessorised with a number of badges featuring Charles and Camilla, the man in question, who was perhaps in his early 60s, called the portrait 'magnificent'.

‘It’s excellent. It’s very modern', he said before praising the artist's 'unusual red, a mixture of light red and dark red'.

Confident that the 'royal red' was befitting for a portrait of the King, he called the painting 'stunning' and said he expected it to be even better in real life.

‘The King stands out magnificently in that portrait. It’s like he’s on his own, in his thoughts.' He added: 'I wish I could take it home with me'.

Yet, despite being a big fan of the new portrait himself, he understood that 'a lot of people may not like it'.

While older people appeared to be less keen on the painting than younger people, the woman on the right explained that it had already grown on her

Another person we spoke to, who was also slightly older, was much less complimentary. 'I don't like it at all', he said, explaining that, in his view, the use of red obscured the King.

'If they'd done a different colour background, he'd stand out more,' he added.

People of a similar age seemed equally sceptical of the portrait, with one man sharing that he thought it was simply 'a bit too modern'.

A woman of around the same age told us that she didn't like it when she first saw it but has since been swayed.

She explained: ‘When I first saw it, I thought “Oh, I’m not sure” but when you see it again, it grows on you a bit.'

Younger people, however, seemed more open to the artist's modern approach.

A woman who appeared to be in her twenties said: ‘I thought it was very unusual but it looked like something new so I think it worked for the public. It’s not the classical way that you usually see in the portraits but I think it’s nice'.

This woman appreciated the novelty of the painting, believing that the public would also like it

While two younger women agreed that the painting was 'unique', a man of around the same age wondered if the artist had made a mistake in using so much red

She acknowledged, though, that 'it probably will cause some discussion'.

The redness of the painting seemed to cause some confusion amongst the public, with one person asking, 'Is it supposed to be red?'

Another young women admitted: 'I wasn't expecting it to be red'. Her friend added: ‘It’s definitely unique, not in a bad way, but it is unique'.