Most Church of England churches snub offer of free portrait of King
By Tom McArdle
Most Church of England churches declined to apply for a free portrait of the King, figures show.
Public institutions across the UK were offered a photograph of the King wearing the Royal Navy uniform of an Admiral of the Fleet to celebrate the start of his reign.
While the offer was taken up by all 23 HM Coastguard centres, 25 per cent of Church of England (CofE) churches obliged.
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The scheme provided more than 20,000 portraits of the King to public authorities. Hugo Burnand/Royal Household 2024/Cabinet Office
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Only 4031 of the 15,815 churches – of which the King is the Supreme Governor – ordered the portrait, which was taken by the photographer Hugo Burnand at Windsor Castle last year.
His Majesty the King's Portrait Scheme was a voluntary programme offering a free framed portrait of the King to any eligible public institution that requested one.
It was started by the previous government following his Coronation in May 2023 and ended up costing £2.7 million (approx. $5.3 million).
The scheme ran from November to August this year and more than 20,500 portraits were provided, with varying degrees of acceptance from different public bodies.
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Lord lieutenancies followed the Coastguard with the highest rate of acceptance, as 75 of the 99 agreed to home one.
Then came government departments, arm's-length bodies and local authorities, cadet forces and coroners' courts.
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A third, or 8384 of almost 30,000 schools took up the offer.
However, there was less enthusiasm from hospitals with three per cent ordering the photo.
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Charles, pictured here in Sydney, is currently preparing to host a Qatari state visit. Getty
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Of 275 universities and higher education institutions, 35 said yes.
After varying take-up of the scheme, its deadline was extended repeatedly.
Final figures from the Cabinet Office show a total of 20,565 orders were received.
This equated to a "total take-up across the UK from all eligible public authorities, including Government departments, arm's-length bodies and local authorities and all other institutions" of 31 per cent.
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This was notably low from public authorities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which had acceptance rates of 13.7, 13.8 and 10.5 per cent, respectively.
The total cost, which included delivery, was £2,710,705 (approx. $5.3 million). The portraits cost a price of £131.81 (approx. $257.56) on average.
© Telegraph Media Group Limited 2024
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