Royal Rite of Passage Awaits Young Prince?

A potentially unsettling tradition could be in store for Prince George during the royal family’s annual summer trip to Balmoral Castle. The young royal might participate in a stag hunt, steeped in controversial history.

Royal Stag Hunt Initiation

Duncan Larcombe revealed in his 2017 book, Prince Harry: The Inside Story, that Prince George may join his father, Prince William, and other royals on a stag hunt. This pastime has been enjoyed by royal ancestors for generations. The palace has declined to comment on any “gruesome royal traditions” that might be part of the trip.

According to Larcombe, the young prince could face a centuries-old ritual, just as his father and uncle, Prince Harry, supposedly did. Tradition holds that the blood of a hunter’s first kill is smeared on their face.

Echoes of the Past

Prince Harry described a similar experience in his memoir, Spare, recounting an incident where his head was pushed inside a deer carcass after shooting one on the Balmoral Estate. After killing a rabbit, his nanny, Tiggy Legge-Bourke, smeared its blood across his face.

Hunting has long been part of the Royal Family’s tradition. The late Queen Elizabeth enjoyed deer stalking. She even joined Prince Philip on tiger hunts in India during the 1960s.

Hunting Controversies

In 2002, King Charles reportedly tried to dissuade then-Prime Minister Tony Blair from banning fox hunting. He argued that it was a natural activity based on humanity’s ancient relationship with dogs and horses.

While stag hunting remains legal in Scotland, there is ongoing debate about its ethics and sustainability. A 2023 report by the animal welfare organization, OneKind, found that more than 3,000 red deer were killed on Scottish estates in 2021 (OneKind).