1st February 2026
The grim discovery made in countryside owned by the monarch near Penicuik comes as Charles claims to be at one with nature in a new documentary.
King Charles has been accused of hypocrisy after 12 foxes were “shot and strung up like trophies” on Crown Estate land, we can reveal.
The grim discovery in countryside owned by the monarch, near Penicuik, Midlothian, sparked a police probe and comes as Charles claims to be at one with the natural world in a documentary out this week.
Campaigners have written to the King urging him to intervene after images obtained by the Sunday Mail showed the slaughtered animals, with some of the bloody carcasses draped over a fence near a publicly accessible path.
A member of the public came across the scene on the boundary of a tenanted farm owned by Crown Estate Scotland on January 3 and notified police.
The slaughter comes as a new Prime Video film, Finding Harmony: A King’s Vision, will tout the monarch as a lifelong champion of nature.
Robbie Marsland, director of Scotland and Northern Ireland for the League Against Cruel Sports which has written to the King, said: “Twelve foxes shot and strung up like trophies on Crown Estate land is grotesque.
“This slaughter isn’t about protecting livestock, it’s about protecting pheasants from foxes so birds can be shot for sport.
“It’s killing to kill, dressed up as countryside management.
“The bitter irony is that this is happening on land owned by the King, just as he prepares to launch a documentary about living in harmony with nature.
“These dead animals represent everything His Majesty’s Harmony philosophy is supposed to oppose. It’s time for the killing to end and Scotland’s wildlife to get the respect it deserves.
“The League is calling on His Majesty to insist that his tenants put down their guns and pick up the science, because killing foxes achieves nothing except betraying the very values he’s asking the world to embrace.
“Any response that falls short of that, or failing to respond at all, would amount to grave hypocrisy.”
Although the King is not directly involved in managing Crown Estate land, he ultimately owns it.
Police investigated the incident but said it found no evidence of criminality, while farmers claimed the killings were part of an “ongoing programme” of fox control ahead of lambing season which typically runs through March and April.
But campaigners said this did not explain why the foxes had been displayed like a grisly “trophy wall” – and questioned the argument around lambing season which is months away.
The League claimed the land, which is leased out by the Crown Estate to Broachrigg Farm in Midlothian, is a known location for game bird shooting.
Finding Harmony: a King’s Vision, which will be released on Prime Video on Friday, has been billed as “chronicling King Charles III’s 50-year commitment to environmentalism”.
In a statement announcing the film earlier this month, which will be narrated by Kate Winslet, King Charles said: “Nature is our sustainer – we are a part of nature.
“Therefore, what we do to her, we do to ourselves.
“For much of my life I have sought to promote and encourage ways we can work with, rather than against, nature.”
In its letter to the monarch, sent last week, the League shared a copy of a scientific report that suggests fox killing at this time of year serves no legitimate wildlife management purpose. CEO Emma Slawinski urged him to encourage Crown Estate tenants to adopt land practices that align with the “harmony” principles he champions.
She said: “I write to you… regarding a troubling discovery on Crown Estate land near Penicuik.
“And to invite Your Majesty’s intervention to encourage land management practices that align with the environmental philosophy you have championed throughout your life.
“Your Majesty, the dead foxes displayed on Crown Estate land are emblematic of an outdated approach to land management that ignores science, disregards animal welfare, and treats nature as something to be conquered rather than lived with.
“As you prepare to share your vision of harmony with the world through your new documentary, we hope you will ensure that Crown Estate land becomes a living demonstration of those principles.”
Marsland claimed scientists have been saying since the 80s that when a fox is killed, another moves into their territory within a week.
He added: “Competition between foxes for territories is intense, a point recently highlighted by David Attenborough’s Wild London.
“What makes this even more senseless is the scientific futility of it all, especially in winter.”
Although the King has been known for many decades for his environmental advocacy around the world, he was once the country’s most famous fox hunter, riding with a number of mounted hunts in England and Wales.
The then Prince of Wales furiously lobbied Tony Blair in a series of private letters to scrap the 2004 fox hunting ban introduced in England.
Scotland had already banned the blood sport in 2002, then brought in a new stronger law in 2023, banning hunting foxes with any more than two dogs.
The former prince injured himself twice in falls off horses during hunts, breaking a rib in the Welsh borders in 1998, then fracturing his shoulder blade in Derbyshire in 2001.
But he vowed to continue hunting right up until the ban came into force.
Charles famously told a private gathering in 2002: “If the Labour government ever gets around to banning fox hunting, I might as well leave this country and spend the rest of my life skiing.”
In a statement, Crown Estate Scotland said it “takes its role as a responsible land manager very seriously”.
A spokesman said: “Having spoken with one of our tenant farmers, we can confirm that the foxes were shot by a professional marksman as part of an ongoing programme to manage the number of foxes in the area.
“This is a necessary part of responsible land management, game and livestock husbandry, ahead of the lambing season which will begin shortly.
“We will work with the tenant farmer to review how the process of disposal can be managed in a more appropriate manner.”
Police Scotland said: “Inquiries were carried out by one of our wildlife crime officers and no criminality was established.”
Buckingham Palace declined to comment.
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/king-charles-accused-hypocrisy-after-36648826
Well we all known what scum he is and that tart he is married to, going on about nature etc then going out murdering foxes and birds they are a absolute disgrace to this country. I hope this is being taken further as the law has been broken and the Windsors are not above it although they think they are. Even if he did not murder these innocent foxes he is responsible and as he keeps going on about nature then he needs to get his act together and make it clear that no murder of any animal is acceptable on his land anywhere.
What a shameful, heartbreaking scene. The hypocritical bastard!