Wildlife campaigners said it was “ridiculous” that police were seeking permission from the Queen before they could enter her private properties to investigate alleged offences.
The campaigners spoke out after the Guardian revealed that dozens of UK laws stipulate that police are banned from entering the Queen’s private estates without her consent to investigate crimes ranging from wildlife crime to environmental pollution.
The Guardian also revealed that police and official regulators were investigating a series of alleged wildlife and pesticide violations against legally protected birds of prey at the Queen’s private Sandringham estate in Norfolk.
Buckingham Palace previously declined to comment. Ruth Tingey, co-director of the environmental group Wild Justice, which is seeking tougher laws to protect nature, said the royal family’s decision not to respond “seems like a massive cover-up”. “How are they allowed to get away with this? How many other bird of prey incidents have been covered on royal estates?” she asked.
Documents and other reports show Sandringham was the focus of successive police and regulatory investigations between 2005 and 2016.
Norfolk Police and Natural England, an official agency that seeks to protect the country’s environment, have been investigating the deaths of a goshawk, a sparrow hawk, a red kite, an owl and a marsh harrier on the Sandringham estate and land it owns nearby, but only one charge was filed.
Police questioned Prince Harry and two others in 2007 in connection with the shooting of two hens. They denied involvement. The prince’s spokesman said at the time that police had contacted him and a friend to ask if they had any information that could help, as they were both in the area. The Crown Prosecution Service did not prosecute anyone.
The revelations are embarrassing for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), given the Queen has been its patron since 1952. The charity was asked if it was seeking a meeting with the royal family to discuss the series of investigations or had a view on the alleged crimes against birds. It refused to answer.
A joint statement said: “We believe it is in the best interests of all landowners to co-operate fully with any investigation so that, where the Crown Prosecution Service deems it appropriate, legal action can be taken.”
Wildlife crime investigators said it was normal practice not to notify police of the purpose of a search before the search for evidence began.
The Guardian revealed last week that personalized exemptions for the Queen in her personal capacity have been written into more than 160 laws since 1967, giving her broad immunity from part of British law.
These include 31 laws which prohibit police from entering the private estates of Balmoral and Sandringham without her permission to investigate suspected crimes, a unique privilege not granted to any other private landowner in the UK.
Tingey said: “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. It just gives everyone a chance to clean up if there’s anything there and then call the police the next day. And of course, there will be nothing to find. I can’t imagine this happening in any other sector.
Norfolk Police previously said all allegations “at or near Sandringham Estate are being investigated in an open and transparent manner with the full co-operation of Sandringham Estate”. Natural England declined to comment on the cases.
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