Fallen petals, a salvaged board and a very practical royal question. Royal portraits usually follow a familiar script: oil on canvas, a gilded frame, a serious expression. They take months, sometimes years, and end up on a palace wall. The portrait a Texas artist handed to King Charles last fall broke almost every one of those rules, and the King noticed.
In late October 2025, Dallas artist Michael Shellis, then 33, met the King at Buckingham Palace to present The King of Sustainability. It was commissioned by social entrepreneur Taz Khan, founder of London’s Community Kitchen, who wanted to thank the King for his support. Khan had one condition: only waste materials and symbolic natural resources could be used.
A Portrait Made From What Others Threw Away
Shellis built the portrait on salvaged wood, including a piece pulled from a dumpster. Onto it he layered fallen petals and flowers collected in London’s Royal Parks. “I couldn’t get the darkness that I wanted out of some of the leaves, so I used dried coffee grounds to dye them,” he explained. The whole surface is sealed in epoxy resin, which gives it its glow. He worked on it for about two and a half weeks in a temporary studio in London.
Even the frame has a story. Khan asked staff at Highgrove, the King’s estate in Gloucestershire, for help, and the frame was made by local makers from ash grown on the estate.
“Will It Rot?”
The King, who paints in watercolors himself, took a close interest in the process. “He asked a lot of questions, including ‘will it rot?'” Shellis recalled. His answer was reassuring: “No, your majesty, it’s not going to rot because there’s no oxygen going to it.” The resin seals the petals and leaves, so they cannot decay.
It is a very Charles kind of question. The King has championed sustainability for decades, and a portrait built from fallen petals and coffee waste fits that mission almost perfectly. Royal objects often carry this kind of personal meaning, like the piece of Diana’s that Meghan chose to wear.
From London to Dallas
The King has since lent the portrait from the Royal Collection. In June 2026, the Royal Society of Arts unveiled it at its London headquarters, in the space previously used for its portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, after an earlier showing at Mansion House. Shellis has said it is set to travel to Abu Dhabi, India and Turkey, followed by a tour of the United States in 2027, with Dallas, New York and Miami among the likely stops.
For Shellis, a self-taught artist who started out tagging bridges in Argyle, Texas, it is a long way from home. For the royal family, it is a reminder that the next generation will inherit these causes, from the King to his grandson Prince George, who recently left for Eton.
Try It at Home
You do not need a royal commission to borrow the idea. Collect fallen petals and leaves on your next walk and press them flat between book pages for a week or two. Use cold brewed coffee or coffee grounds steeped in water to tint paper or leaves a warm brown. Arrange them on a piece of reclaimed wood or an old cutting board, and seal with a clear craft resin, following the product’s safety instructions. The lesson worth borrowing is that beauty does not have to be bought new; it can be gathered.
The Bottom Line
King Charles was given a portrait made of Royal Park petals, salvaged wood and used coffee grounds, sealed in resin and framed in Highgrove ash. When he asked whether it would rot, the artist had a simple answer: no oxygen, no decay.
