I know I m going to get my head bitten off but here goes anyway

I'm not going to have a go at you Bluebell

I hate hunting of any description. I haven't seen the photo but I assume they are shooting grouse. They don't need culling as they are bred to be killed!

I appreciate that it provides jobs for gamekeepers etc though

I certainly won't have a go at you Bluebelle. I believe that killing any living creature for fun is disgusting and a crime against nature.

I agree with you Bluebell.

Haven’t seen the photo and usually like William and Kate bit agree with you completely. I don’t like to see anything killed unnecessarily especially with a small child watching. What message does that give!

Agree with all above.

No biting of heads from me, totally agree.

I’m right there with you!

Couldn't agree more.

My dad used to shoot when I was young and we ate what he shot. But as a child, I never made the connection between his shooting, my food and real animals.

When I was 8 or 9, he started teaching me how to aim a gun. I thought it was great. Something else to do with my dad (he taught me how to swim, dive, scuba dive). Until the day he tried to get me to aim at an animal. I was horrified and refused, as did my younger brother when his turn came. Our father was so disappointed about not being able to pass his hunting and shooting on to us.

I think William and Kate are great - usually - but I dont like this either. They are still better than Meghan and Harry though.

It’s hard to imagine the mind that finds this acceptable. Breeding birds in order to hunt them seems particularly objectionable.

Well I’m certainly not going to bite your head off but I am also not joining in the condemnation of Kate and William for shooting game.

People eat grouse. I have had it on occasion in restaurants and I am well aware that the bird had to be killed for me to eat it!

As for the outcry over George being there with his parents, again I have no problem with that.

Too many children these days have no idea where their food comes from, so good for K and W for helping him with his education.

It’s pointless getting all gooey and sentimental over humanely killing birds and animals for food.

Obviously of course I do realise that vegetarians and vegans will have a different opinion!

Totally agree. I believe all so called "sports" that involve the killing of animals should be banned. I don't approve of fishing either, unless it is for food. Now someone will tell me that the fish don't feel a thing when their mouths are pierced with a sharp hook and they are hauled out of the water for no good reason other than for the pleasure of the human that caught it - I'll be hiding behind the sofa!

Not a fan of hunting myself

The picture of Harry and the buffalo he killed some years ago shocked me

But then again I am not a vegetarian.

I believe the grouse they shoot is taken away and eaten

If I was a grouse/chicken/turkey I would rather be killed by Prince William than in the horrendous abattoirs we have

kittylester

I think William and Kate are great - usually - but I dont like this either. They are still better than Meghan and Harry though.

That’s very Like the “Boris isn’t great but he’s better than corbyn” comments , a bit irrelevant if you don’t mind my saying !

I think it’s pretty standard for the upper classes to introduce their offspring to the joys of shooting birds at that sort of age.......

Bluebelle I agree with you entirely. I don't particularly like any of the royals, and they all kill things for the fun of it.

And why not Lucca ?
It’s all part of rural life.

Don’t forget George will probably eventually inherit the Duchy of Cornwall so it’s sensible of his parents to introduce him to the facts of rural farming life where, yes, creatures are killed.

Isn’t it likely the grouse his parents shot will be on the menu in due course ?

Actually, lucca, I do mind you saying.

Kittylester, in that case I apologise.

I believe the photo of Kate holding a gun is an old one taken in 2008 before they were married.

There's no proof that George was there but if he was he would have observed from a safe distance which is no bad thing because children who are brought up in a field sports culture tend to make up their own minds as to whether or not they want to shoot.

DH stopped shooting when he was voted on to the management committee of our local wildlife trust. It would have clearly been inappropriate to carry on. DS's working life took him away from country living although he does still enjoy fishing.

I also wish journalists would stop confusing shooting with hunting. They are not the same.

I know JE my brother in law and nephews all shoot. I don’t like it though as it is for sport.

The first time I went to a shoot I was expecting to come away absolutely horrified.
The birds were flushed out and they flew. Something they do on a regular basis when they are startled in the wild. Most lived to fly another day. The guns have to follow a very strict code of conduct. The birds were despatched very quickly.
I came away thinking that if I was a bird I would rather meet my end in a field, quickly, rather than in a processing factory after a long journey.
That way of thinking will not sit well with a vegetarian and I totally understand, however, if you eat meat I can’t see that you could object.
A free life then a quick death.
BTW I don’t shoot, but I do eat meat and am very glad that others are prepared to do the dirty work.
All the birds killed on the shoot I went to were eaten.

I havent actually seen anything about them shooting.

I dont like hunting as a pass time.
But I dont know the pros and cons about culling either.

I wouldnt encourage it in my family, is all I can say.

Nope, I don't think this is acceptable at all, these birds are bred for people to shoot them as sport. If you want to shoot for a hobby, go clay pigeon shooting, all the fun and skill, none of the slaughter.