Anti-King Charles poster ban slammed as 'ridiculous' by furious political party
A media company's ban on using an anti-King Charles poster has sparked fury from a political party.
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A media company's ban on using an anti-King Charles poster has sparked fury from a political party.
Scotland's Alba Party has blasted Global for interfering in its political campaign after the republican design was blocked.
Global, which controls more than 250,000 UK advertising sites, rejected the party's design over fears that it could cause offence.
The poster depicted an image of King Charles crossed out by a red prohibition sign.
The poster depicted an image of King Charles crossed out by a red prohibition sign.
It also contained a message that said: "It’s time for an Independent Republic of Scotland."
Chris McEleny, the general secretary of Alba, blasted the decision.
McEleny said: "We have a potential general election next year and the current situation is that media giants will get to decide which messages the public get to see and which messages they don’t."
He continued: "Therefore if you wanted to campaign for an independent Scotland with an elected head of state, you wouldn’t be allowed to display an image of King Charles on the advert in fear that it would upset the royals.
"This is a ridiculous situation to be in – we must not allow interference in our democratic right to campaign in elections."
Global also refused a design that had replaced the image of King Charles with a crown, due to it being “a direct reference to the royals”.
According to the Telegraph, an email to Alba from the firm stated it would not carry artwork "deemed to be politically persuasive with the use of something that is likely to cause offence, likely to get complaints and likely to have to be removed/replaced."
King Charles is set to stay in Scotland next month at Balmoral Castle.
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King Charles is set to stay in Scotland next month at Balmoral Castle.
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Queen Elizabeth II died peacefully at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on September 8 2022.
The Royal Family is not holding a public event to mark the first anniversary of the Queen's death.
King Charles and Camilla are expected to stay at the Balmoral estate to mark the anniversary privately.
It is unclear whether other members of the Royal Family will travel to Balmoral in September.