Britain's Prince William has been branded a "thickwit" by singer Morrissey for going on a hunting trip.
The 31-year-old royal and his younger brother Harry, 29, went shooting in Spain this month before William and their father, Prince Charles, launched a campaign to end the illegal hunting of animals such as tigers, rhinos and elephants.
In an open letter to the Royal Family on Morrissey's fansite True To You, the star attacks William and Harry for going on the trip and accuses them of hypocrisy.
He writes: "One day prior to giving a public plea on behalf of animal welfare (!), Prince William is to be found in Spain (with Prince Harry) shooting and killing as many deer and boar as they possibly can! (sic)
"Although William's speech (no doubt written by his publicity aides at Clarence House) will concentrate on endangered species, William is too thickwit to realize that animals such as tigers and rhino are only driven to near extinction because people who are precisely like himself and his brother have shot them off the map - all in the name of sport and slaughter. Whenever you shoot an animal in the head the outcome is usually the same: death. (sic"
The 54-year-old singer is a committed vegetarian and has campaigned for animal rights for many years. He previously mocked the Royal Family in a song called 'The Queen Is Dead'.
He added: "The rationalists amongst us, who are never allowed to speak, are intelligent enough to realize that endangered species are dying out only because of people like William and Harry, and, for this we can only pray to God that their hunting guns backfire in their faces."
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