Prince William and Kate Middleton are facing a backlash after they took their 7-year-old son Prince George on a hunting trip at Balmoral on Saturday. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are apparently initiating the young prince into the royal family's traditional grouse shoot but animal rights group, PETA, warns of the damage this activity will cause to the child's psyche.
According to reports, Prince William, Kate and George went to Corgaff in the weekend morning to kill some birds. But PETA Director Mimi Bekhech said that few people today consider grouse shooting as a sport and such "casual killing" may end up "desensitizing" a 7-year-old boy toward the suffering of animals.
Bekhech said that William and Kate should have taught George to respect all living creatures if they want the young prince to grow up as a compassionate and responsible leader. Unfortunately, the third in line to the throne is bound to witness more shooting parties as the royals enjoy this tradition every summer.
Prince William and his brother, Prince Harry, also started hunting at about the same age as George. Their father, Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, initiated them into the sport and their mother, Princess Diana, the Princess of Wales, once jokingly dubbed her sons as the "Killer Wales" because they were reportedly enthusiastic about the activity.
Prince Philip used to lead the family's royal shooting parties but he has since scaled down on the activity as he grew older. According to Daily Mail, Queen Elizabeth also took steps to minimize the chances of her family being photographed during the hunt.
Since marrying Meghan Markle, Prince Harry apparently stopped participating in grouse shooting. The Duchess of Sussex, who is an animal lover and activist, does not approve of the royal sport and there were speculations she allegedly banned the Duke of Sussex from shooting.
Meanwhile, also believed to have gone to Corgaff to shoot some birds were Princess Anne, her husband Sir Tim Laurence, Princess Anne's son Peter Phillips, as well as the Wessex boys, Prince Edward and James, Viscount Severn. Sophie, the Countess of Wessex and her daughter, Lady Louise, joined the shooters during their outdoor lunch. The other Cambridge children, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louise, stayed at one of the apartments at Balmoral with Peter's kids, Savannah and Isla.
But Queen Elizabeth didn't join her family on this outing and kept within her Balmoral bubble to protect herself from the coronavirus. Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, were also not at the shoot nor at the family lunch, according to Tatler.
