The Unofficial British Royal Family Pages

Sunday 3 October 2004

Foxhunting and the Prince of Wales

The Prince of Wales created a controversy this week by announcing that he will continue to hunt during the two years before the likely Parliamentary ban on foxhunting takes effect.  The Labour party has been considering a ban for years, and last week the House of Commons voted to outlaw foxhunting.  The bill still has to pass the House of Lords, but as the Labour government has already kicked most of the hereditary peers out of the House of Lords, it is not the conservative stronghold it once was.  If the House of Lords passes it and the Queen signs it – as of course she must – the ban will not take effect for two years, during which time hunters are expected to find other things to do with their horses and hounds. 

The Prince of Wales loves foxhunting.  The other members of the Royal Family do not hunt, or at least keep quiet about it.  (I would expect Princess Anne to hunt, but if she does, it doesn’t get into the media.)  Prince William and Prince Harry have also hunted, but they are criticized less than their father, probably because people assume that it is their father’s idea that they should hunt.  Apparently the young princes have agreed not to hunt this season, even though the ban is not yet in effect.  The Prince of Wales, on the other hand, has chosen to ignore the Queen’s request to stop hunting.  He and his partner, Camilla Parker-Bowles, hunt frequently.  During the years of his marriage they would see each other publicly only at hunt meets, and the only press photograph taken of them together for many years was of them hunting.  The Prince even has a page on his web site about his love of hunting, with a photograph of him hunting, at http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/about/act_country_pursuits.html.  I think that this may have been added quite recently, as I had not noticed it before this week.  

Some supporters of hunting feel strongly that the anti-hunting movement is against the upper class rather than against animal cruelty.  Foxhunting has always had a reputation as a hobby of the wealthy landed elite, although its supporters have recently tried to recast it as a classless rural tradition.  It requires the expense of owning at least one horse and the hunting outfits and equipment, not just for one day but for the many years it takes to learn the equestrian skills.  In Britain land is so expensive that few people have enough land to have horses.  The traditional hunting “pink” (red) jacket looks like the British Redcoat army uniform, so hunts can look like a charging Calvary unit.  The practice of riding over any land the fox crosses can damage farms (though modern hunts ask for permission and pay damages, and foxhunting season is in the winter partly so that there will not be crops in the fields).  Hunts are organized groups with associated social events, and for some hunts the membership is very exclusive. 

This long-standing elitism made foxhunting an appropriate sport for royalty for generations, but in the egalitarian modern world it is a drawback for the royals’ image.  Royal participation in foxhunting is more likely to come to the notice of the media than other types of hunting, because hunts are often open to the public and always take place in well-populated areas.  (At least in theory, the purpose of foxhunting is to kill the foxes because they will kill and eat farm animals, particularly poultry.)  In fact, it is the only “blood” or “country” (depending on your position) sport for which the royals must leave their own property.  This makes it far more public than most royal hunting, such as the medieval kings’ deer hunting in royal parks or the modern shooting and fishing done on private estates.  Only when private shooting and stalking are forbidden will the royals have truly come to the end of a very long royal tradition. 

Media reports say that the Prince is being pressured to give up hunting in part because of the high cost of providing police protection for him while he hunts.  Public protests and attacks on hunts are expected to increase this winter.  However, there is hope for a compromise.  An odd thing about foxhunting is that the “hunters” don’t actually kill anything.  The hunters chase after a pack of hounds on horseback, and the hounds catch and kill the fox.  American foxhunts chase the fox but do not kill it, and this is obviously a possibility in Britain.

It remains to be seen whether not killing the fox will prove an acceptable compromise for English foxhunting enthusiasts, including the Prince of Wales.  The government will probably not penalize hunters too harshly after the ban takes effect, so some hunters are considering simply disobeying the ban.  After all, they can afford the fines.  Meanwhile, pro-hunt activists have been protesting the ban.  After eight men stormed onto the floor of House of Commons to protest the ban last week, it was revealed that five of them are members of the Prince of Wales’ upper-class circle in Gloucestershire, and two of the five are close friends of the Prince.  But civil disobedience is a different prospect for the heir to the throne than for others.  If he shows disrespect for the foxhunting ban, a future government may think twice about his ability to be a constitutional monarch, and decide that princes, like foxhunting, are a tradition that modern Britain can do without.

- Margaret Weatherford