The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews’, but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”
John denotes the enemies of Jesus as the “chief priests of the Jews” in direct contrast to the placard which denotes Jesus as the “King of the Jews.” They take offense to that which Pilate has written since they never accepted the Kingship of Jesus but used His supposed claims to be king as their accusation against Him before Pilate.