Slaughter by Royal appointment

As Prince William campaigns to save endangered species, a rather embarrassing reminder that most of his relatives had a somewhat different approach:

Writing to her father-in-law George V from a safari in Africa, the Duchess of York — the future Queen Mother — gave a gripping account of the excitement of the kill.

‘I took to shooting with a rifle, which I hope you won’t dislike me for,’ she wrote. ‘But really there was nothing else to do, and I enjoyed it so much, and became very bloodthirsty.

‘First of all I shot birds as big as capercailzie [grouse] for the pot, and then I shot buck, and by great flukes managed to kill and not wound, and then I shot a rhinoceros, which nearly broke my heart.’

Read More: Slaughter by Royal appointment: As Prince William campaigns to save endangered species, a rather embarrassing reminder that most of his relatives had a somewhat different approach