The Queen drives her Range Rover up to Balmoral in 2012

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The Glorious Twelfth falls on August 12 every year, and the day officially marks the start of grouse-shooting season. The season tends to run until December 10, and the period for shooting ‘red game’ is stipulated in the Game Act of 1831.

Do the royals take part in the Glorious Twelfth?

The Royal Family are famed for their love of blood sports, with deer-stalking and grouse-shooting known to be royal traditions.

A pheasant shoot is also held on the Queen’s Sandringham Estate every year on Boxing Day.

Prince William and Prince Harry grew up taking part in game-shooting, and the late Princess Diana was said to have dubbed them the ‘Killer Wales’.

Other members of the Royal Family have previously partaken in the shooting of grouse too, including Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge.

According to the Daily Mail, Prince William and Prince George have previously enjoyed a father-son day out around Balmoral during the grouse-shooting season.

Grouse shooting has been prevalent on the royal Balmoral Estate since the reign of Queen Victoria in the 19th Century.

But the Royal Family is less public about their shooting activities nowadays as many dislike the practice on ethical grounds.

Why is the Glorious Twelfth controversial?

Those in favour of grouse-shooting point to the fact it brings people and local communities together as just one benefit of the practice.

Economically, grouse-shooting allows employment for gamekeepers and estate workers and encourages investment in the British country landscape.

But bloodsports attract significant criticism, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) refer to the Glorious Twelfth as a “senseless massacre” of “sentient animals”.

In a blog post on the topic, PETA state: “Grouse are charming, sensitive birds who are devoted parents to their chicks.

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“They deserve better than being killed in cold blood for someone’s twisted idea of entertainment. And it’s not just the grouse who suffer at the hands of the hunters.

“To preserve the interests of their own sick pleasure, hunters remove the grouse’s natural predators, meaning foxes, stoats, weasels, squirrels, and birds like hawks, falcons, owls, hen harriers, and eagles are trapped, poisoned, or shot or their nests are destroyed.”

Indeed, campaigners voiced their concerns over shooting on royal estates after it emerged that a protected bird had been killed on the Queen’s Sandringham Estate in 2020.

According to The Times, a protected species of owl was killed in a Fenn trap. Such traps are used legally on estates to kill animals which may eat game birds intended to be shot.

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