Cancer-stricken monarch King Charles was rolled out covered in thick “stage make-up” this week to mask the ravages of his grueling chemotherapy, but it left him looking like a wax dummy.

RadarOnline.com can reveal that courtiers covered his blotchy and swollen face with cosmetics to tone down his alarming complexion and quell concerns about his ill health.

And in a new picture of the king released as he celebrates his 76th birthday, he appears to have received the same treatment.

The photograph shows the monarch wearing a smart suit, white shirt and blue tie, with one hand in his pocket while resting the other on a chair…his face covered in a layer of make-up.

The photo was shared on the royal family’s official X account with a birthday cake emoji and the message: “Wishing His Majesty The King a very Happy Birthday today.”

And the make-up frenzy for the film at the premiere of Gladiator II has backfired and only served to prompt more speculation about the British sovereign’s health.