King Charles III pop art portrait created using 6,000 M&Ms
A 3 by 4-foot pop art portrait of King Charles III, created entirely from nearly 6,000 colourful M&M chocolates
As London prepares for the grand pageantry of Trooping the Colour this weekend, the capital is awash with military precision, flying flags, and vibrant dress uniforms. But away from the Mall, a rather different, distinctly British tribute to King Charles III has been taking shape—one chocolate button at a time.
For food artist Michelle Wibowo, the official celebration of the Monarch's birthday provided the perfect creative spark. Inspired by the literal phrasing of the historic event, she set out to create a portrait defined by its bold, unapologetic use of colour.
Behind the scenes in the studio: British food artist Michelle Wibowo brings her contemporary King Charles III portrait to life. Hand-crafted in the UK using approximately 6,000 M&Ms, the 3x4 foot sugar art mosaic took over 30 hours of meticulous placement to complete ahead of the Trooping the Colour birthday celebrations.
The creative process began with a meticulously scaled sketch, mapping out how highlights and deep shadows would translate across the King's features.
The portrait embraces a brilliant, contemporary palette. Deep reds, warm oranges, and bright yellows were carefully layered to form the contours of the face, beautifully offset by a rich blue backdrop and sharp green and yellow accents across the suit jacket in Pop Art Style using approximately 6,000 M&M chocolates.
Given the sheer volume of confectionery required to fill a canvas of this size, Michelle was keen to ensure the project remained sustainable. To prevent perfectly good food from going to waste, she successfully sourced more than 6 kgs M&M’s that were already destined for disposal.
A close-up, high-angle shot capturing the intricate process of creating a large-scale confectionery mosaic
By repurposing the discarded sweets into a vibrant piece of contemporary art, the project offers a subtle, fitting nod to His Majesty’s own long-standing advocacy for sustainability and resourcefulness.
As the nation tunes in to watch the flypasts and parades this June, this particular portrait stands as a wonderfully eccentric, beautifully crafted reminder of how British creativity can transform the everyday into something quite extraordinary.
