King Charles III lives up to its reputation as an environmentalist and nature lover. It has long been regarded as an opponent of foie gras. The monarch ruled that no foie gras should be served in his palaces. The animal protection organization Peta said in London that they had received a letter from the royal household.
“As Prince of Wales, King Charles has banned foie gras (…) from his royal residences. Peta has now received confirmation that His Majesty’s compassionate policy extends to Buckingham Palace and all other royal residences,” it said . As a thank you, Peta sent a gift basket of vegan foie gras to the palace.
King Charles doesn’t like foie gras
Charles decided the ban many years ago. He is said to have once described the delicacy, which is traditionally part of the Christmas feast in many places in France, as “disgusting”. Peta-Britain chief Elisa Allen called for following the king’s example and removing the product from the menu at Christmas “and beyond”. The manufacture of foie gras is banned in Britain, but its sale or importation is not.
An import ban was announced during the time of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson. But the subsequent government, also conservative, rejected the plans. Bans are “socialist,” it said. Now consumers should only be enlightened, as the portal “Politico” wrote.
Peta has long condemned the stuffing of geese and ducks as cruel, pointing to the fattening of the animals through a tube inserted directly down their throats. Foie gras is a pathologically enlarged fatty liver that is up to ten times larger than the liver of a healthy animal. If you extrapolate the amount of food forcibly administered to humans, that would correspond to up to 14 kilograms of pasta per day. The stuffing causes serious side effects in the animals: from shortness of breath and neck injuries to liver bleeding and heart failure.
Other foods prohibited
How political is(s)t the palace? However, foie gras is not the only food that is forbidden at the farm. However, most other dishes are not about animal love or protection. Mushrooms may only be used if they come from your own lands. And Charles is said to be a big fan of roast lamb.
His deceased mother Queen Elizabeth II is said to have detested oysters, as her servant Charles Oliver once reported. Her former chef Darren McGrady said, “We can’t serve anything with garlic or too many onions.” There are also dishes that are considered difficult. shellfish, for example. “We don’t want any member of the royal family to have a problem with food poisoning,” said former butler Grant Harrold. Charles himself is said to have broken this commandment before, it is said in London. Meanwhile, crab legs are taboo in public because the risk of unsavory images is too great.
That’s it with the food. In fact, animal products are also used elsewhere for the palace. The famous black caps of the palace guards are made from real bearskin. Usually the fur of female Canadian brown bears is used for this. The pelts used are “by-products of licensed culls by Canadian authorities” used to control the wild bear population, the palace said. But critics are calling for the hats to be made only from synthetic animal fur. This is exactly what Peta is now demanding for another important piece of clothing. May the king use imitation fur for his coronation on May 6, 2023. So far, the royal coat at the ceremony consists of real ermine fur.
