The King's Pants Charity Auction
Inspiration behind my green pants & what Nick Cave and I have in common
Hello! Regardless of your stance on the British monarchy, I hope you have kick-started this extra bank holiday weekend nicely. Now, let’s talk about my green pants.
In 2020, Andersen Press asked me to donate an illustration for their charity auction to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Not Now, Barnard by late David McKee. It was to raise money for a charity called Action for Children. The auction raised over £8000 and I was honoured to be asked to take part.
Then, this year, Andersen Press asked me once again to take part in another charity auction. This time it’s called The King’s Pants Coronation Pants Auction.
About the auction
The auction is to celebrate the publication of The King’s Pants by Nicholas Allan (a sequel to a bestselling family favourite, The Queen’s Knickers by Allan). I must admit that I hesitated to say “yes” straight away. With many things in my life including the monarchy, my position is usually somewhere ambiguous (I’m a typical Libra). Oddly, I found that Nick Cave and I share a similar view toward the British institution (and he’s a Libra too!) in his letter to his fans who had asked him “Why the f**** are you going to the King’s coronation?”.
“I am not a monarchist, nor am I a royalist, nor am I an ardent republican for that matter; what I am also not is so spectacularly incurious about the world and the way it works, so ideologically captured, so damn grouchy, as to refuse an invitation to what will more than likely be the most important historical event in the UK of our age. Not just the most important, but the strangest, the weirdest.” - Nick Cave
I hesitated because I had quite a few friends who are anti-monarchist and I was aware more and more people are in favour of abolishing the monarchy. In this age of cultural war and cancelling culture, sometimes it feels like the best tactic is to self-censor ourselves and stay quiet. “Maybe it’s wise not to get involved in this subject?”, I thought…
But what ultimately changed my mind was the heart of the auction. The auction is to raise as much money as possible to split between the Trussell Trust, for those facing food poverty in the UK, and Disasters Emergency Committee for Türkiye and Syria following the devastating earthquakes. If we could use the coronation as an excuse for a good cause and if my illustration could help people in needs, I thought “Why not?”
Theme
The brief was to illustrate a pair of coronation pants fit for the King. I knew what the theme for my pants would be from the start. Animal welfare and nature conservation is what I most care and what I like about the King Charles III is his passion for environmental activism. So I decided to design green pants for the green king.
Inspiration behind the design
Obviously I wasn’t going to just draw a pair of green pants. I want them to have a clear message and to be something British and grand.
So, for the motifs, I chose flowers and plants that made me think of British spring - daffodils, buttercups, bluebells and oak leaves. I also chose some of the endangered animals in the UK - red squirrel, starling, long-eared bat and hedgehog.
The central image is an homage to the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom. I replaced the unicorn and the lion with a squirrel and a starling. The acorn was also inspired by the Duchy Originals logo (King’s organic food brand). I always thought it looked like an acorn.
Another inspiration came from William Morris, a prominent figure in the British Arts and Crafts Movement. I arranged all the motifs a bit like Morris’ wallpaper design. I love his designs, particularly his textiles and wallpapers. You can see his work at Victoria & Albert Museum but I highly recommend you to visit William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow, London if you haven’t. It’s worth the trip and it has a lovely garden too.
That’s it. These are the inspiration behind my coronation pants for the King. Basically the pants is my hope for the king to listen to Uncle Ben and continue championing environmental activism. The auction went live a month ago. Alongside Nicholas Allan, other artists include: Axel Scheffler, Lydia Monks, Posy Simmonds, Zehra Hicks, Alex T Smith, Steven Lenton, Nicola Kent, Chris Naylor Ballesteros, Nicola Killen and many more! The auction was picked up by media and it was exciting to see my names mentioned on the Guardian, BBC and some magazines. I was so chuffed that I ran to a shop and brought two copies of the newspaper - one for me and one for my mum.
I wonder what the King is actually wearing today… My money is on a pair of green pants, if not my design. Who. knows? (I guess Queen Camila does.) Anyway, whether you’re celebrating the coronation at a street party or trying to avoid anything to do with the ceremony at all cost, have a lovely bank holiday weekend! I like quiche so I don’t mind trying the Coronation Quiche…
Momoko x
The auction is open until the 31st of May. There is still time to bid on your favourite pants!