The Yorkshire Post reports that three gamekeepers on the Goathland grouse moor owned by the Duchy of Lancaster (HM the Queen) and managed by BH Sporting were interviewed under caution by police officers from North Yorks police back in May. It is reported that all three ‘keepers were suspended from their duties and one has subsequently resigned whilst the other two are reinstated.
The land is leased by a company called W&G apparently.
So the links with Her Majesty are pretty tenuous though obviously interesting. The land is owned by the Monarch and forms part of the Duchy of Lancaster, this particular parcel of land is leased to W&G who get BH Sporting to manage the shoot and presumably, I’m guessing here, they employ the gamekeepers. I doubt whether any of the people involved in this chain are round at the Palace having tea with the Royal Family very often – unless you know differently?
But one of the two directors of BH Sporting has a vaguely familiar name. I think RPUK is more likely than I to remember the details.
I don’t think the current Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Michael Gove, is likely to have a hands-on relationship with Goathland either. That’s a shame – it would have been fun.
But let’s just imagine that someone involved in grouse moor management is involved with what the North Yorks Police describe as ‘this horrific crime’ then the grouse bags help provide profit to W&G and allow them to pay BH Sporting and the Duchy of Lancaster, and that helps Her Majesty to scrape by in these difficult times. And that would allow Her Majesty, in the past, to donate to those well-known raptor lovers Songbird Survival (click here) and the Gamekeepers Welfare Trust (click here) which I see helps ‘keepers with legal and employment problems.
I’m still for having a modern Royal Family – see here for my strangely prescient blog of a few days ago – but my mate John Burton takes a much harder line – see his guest blog here.
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OK, Gove is unlikely to have any hands on involvement with Goathland per se, however as Chancellor of the DoL he is linked and any normal law abiding (subjective I appreciate) person is likely to be a tad embarrassed by any such association …. but then he’s a politician and will no doubt find the networking and financial opportunities from such a position very useful?
I prefer a simpler analysis. Is Gove likely to be embarrassed by this? Yes, but only commensurate with the extent to which the responsibility figures in his world – which might be slightly higher than we suppose. But rest assured, there’s a bod somewhere in the Duchy admin running around squawking “what do we do, what do we do”. As of course there should be.
Definitely with John Burton on this one. It would seem as if they only say yes to being a patron of all these charities because it then saves them from being criticised.
All they do for us is give our tourism a boost. It could be argued that without them, we’d have a lot more wildlife which would then give our tourism a boost.
The only wildlife they would understand is the leech.
The Royals are sadly blood sports through and through. They were not prepared to humanely cull enough red deer at Balmoral so that forest could regenerate without deer fencing, thereby the plan to conserve its capercaillie was heavily compromised, but predator control was still on the cards of course. So caper had to risk flying into fences and indulging their predilection for sticking their heads through fox snares. While Royal caper have struggled those at Strathspey have increased http://www.amberwebdesign.co.uk/castle_2010/pdf/capercaillie_management_on_balmoral_estate.pdf.
Someone commenting on RPUK said here was an opportunity for the Royals to turn away from this shooting nonsense and get into rewilding and eco tourism here, which would be great, but I know they won’t. This is a terrible shame, while there are at least some estates embracing genuine ecological restoration in Scotland I can’t think of a single one in the north of England. It would be nice to see that happen, the first crack in the dam wall. Prince C ludicrously was of the opinion that the returning pine marten would be a threat to the red squirrel, just what you’d expect from the typical gamekeeper. Hopefully Allan Bantinck of the SWT put him right.
Les, there’s more here: https://www.cairngormscapercaillie.scot/faqs/ You might consider asking them what their ‘involvement’ is and the extent of any contribution from the public purse.
Cheers!!
One more way if one were needed that the “royal” family are out of touch with normal life. I’d be shipping them off to somewhere else where they may do less harm, North America, Rockall or better still St Helena.
So much for the claim that the whole thing’s a fake from some lowlife calling itself Banjo dog…
https://twitter.com/stoptheshoot/status/1285139120969396224
Are you suggesting that her maj. benefits from the proceeds of crime Mark? The very idea.
If this case gets to court, can the unfortunate keeper, hung out to dry , hope for a ‘Bleasdale’
type result ?, if not why, what is the difference ?.
One hopes not, the Bleasdale case went as it did because in large part of a very poorly prepared prosecution brief and remember legal precedents are not set in magistrates courts.
Your ‘strangely prescient blog” ? Strangely Hello Magazine would be a better description. I’ve a soft spot for posh old ladies myself, but the issue with the sovereign is sovereignty. The clue is in the name.
If as you write that you have such a command of insight, you should do a lot better at horse racing?
bickerton – how do I do at horse racing?
In a straight sprint I’d back the horse to beat you Mark but in the egg-and-spoon race and the sack race I feel you’d probably win. I’m just guessing of course!
If QEII were prosecuted as land-owner….Regina vs Regina? I’d buy a ticket!
Commons vs Regina would be better, as in the days of Charles the First.