A MULTIMILLION-pound endeavour to hang Charles Windsor’s portrait in public buildings across Britain was rejected by nearly 70 per cent of those eligible, a new report revealed today.

The Tory government launched the programme in November 2023.

But freedom of information (FOI) requests submitted by the Guardian revealed that only a third of public institutions chose to accept the offer, including just 3 per cent of hospitals and 7 per cent of universities.

Despite the low uptake, taxpayers still forked out £2.7 million on footing the bill for the pictures, which show Charles decked out in a naval uniform.

Some 46,000 public institutions showed no interest, the Guardian found. 

The current Cabinet Office declined to reveal where the portraits ended up.

Responding to one of the newspaper’s FOI requests, the government argued that the disclosure would “likely trigger questions about why certain organisations requested the portrait and (by extension) why others did not,” adding that it could distract them from their operational activity.

Graham Smith, from campaign group Republic, said: “Support for the monarchy has fallen sharply in recent years, and interest in it has collapsed.

“This is why the government is being coy about who has requested a portrait, as they want to protect the image of a beloved monarchy.”

He added that it is “unacceptable to maintain secrecy around public spending by cash-strapped public institutions in order to avoid controversy.

“The whole point of freedom of information is to allow the public to judge the conduct and decisions of public authorities.”

A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “His Majesty The King’s Portrait Scheme was a voluntary programme offering a free, framed portrait to any eligible public institution that requested one. Under the scheme, more than 20,500 portraits were given out across the United Kingdom to celebrate the new reign.”