Brian May says Princes William and Harry hunting makes him ‘sick’

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DAILY MAIL
IT’S LIKE TRYING TO JUSTIFY 19TH CENTURY SLAVERY:BRIAN MAY
17 February 2014 by Katy Winter

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EXPRESS
Mon 17 February 2014 by Jane Mathews

‘It makes me feel sick’ Brian May hits out at Prince William and Harry over animal hunting’

QUEEN guitarist Brian May has hit out at Princes William and Harry after they spent a weekend shooting animals in Spain.

Brian May
Mr [Dr] May compared attitudes to hunting with 19th century attitudes to slavery [PA]
The Princes hunted wild boar, stag and partridge just days before William backed Prince Charles in a campaign to stop the killing of endangered wildlife such as elephants.

Prince William has said that he wants all 1,200 ivory artefacts in Buckingham Palace destroyed in order to “send a message” to illegal elephant poachers.

On Thursday, he joined Prince Charles at a summit in London to condemn illegal poaching around the world. But Dr May, 66, has accused him of hypocrisy and of having “archaic” attitudes to animal welfare.

Prince William hunting at Sandringham 2008
Prince William hunting at Sandringham in 2008 [Albanpix]
Saying that he would like to meet the Princes to “find a way forward”, Dr May said: “It made me feel sick. This is right at the heart of the problem we are looking at in this government. It’s the whole attitude of the privileged classes – you can rescue rhinos and elephants in Africa but kill at will anything you want if you’re rich. It’s an attitude I’m very familiar with as I’m used to talking to people who justify tearing living foxes apart with packs of dogs.”

His comments came as pictures emerged of a young Prince Harry posing with a dead buffalo he shot in South America in 2004.

Prince Harry hunting on horsebackPrince Harry, pictured near Highgrove in 2000, has hunted from a young age [SWNS]
Prince Harry, pictured near Highgrove in 2000, has hunted from a young age [SWNS]
It’s the whole attitude of the privileged classes –
you can rescue rhinos and elephants in Africa but kill
at will anything you want if you’re rich
Brian May

Dr May, who has a PhD in astrophysics, also compared current attitudes to hunting with 19th century attitudes to slavery.

He said: “It’s not logical, justifiable or humane and is the same as people in the 19th century trying to justify slavery. Such people would insist slaves didn’t feel like they did. Now they’re saying these animals don’t feel like we do so it’s OK to hunt them and do what we want with them. That is an archaic way of thinking and it has to go.”

Dr May is currently working on releasing previously unheard Queen material featuring vocals recorded by Freddie Mercury. He is also fundraising for a Badger and Cattle Vaccination Initiative in a bid to stop badger culling. The sponsorship page is at bacvi.co.uk