Rule number one: you don't mess with the Queen. Tim Haries, an activist with the Fathers4Justice group, snuck a can of spraypaint into Westminster Abbey this past summer and painted the word "Help" on Ralph Heimans' $290,000 portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. Haries said that his act of vandalism was to protest a system that he feels unjustly denies fathers the right to see their children. The irony is that Haries hasn't seen his two daughters in over four years, and he may have just made it harder on himself because he now has to serve six months in prison.
According to The Australian, Haries began a hunger strike after his sentencing and has vowed to continue the strike until he sees his children. We're not sure what the sentence would have been if he had simply violated the family court order, but maybe this was his plan all along? The repairs to the Queen's Diamond Jubilee portrait cost $16,900 and it has since been returned to Westminster Abbey.
RELATED: Portrait of Queen Elizabeth II Vandalized at London's Westminster Abbey
[via ArtDaily]
