Back in 1324, a statute under King Edward II allowed monarchs to claim whales, sturgeons, dolphins, and porpoises, also known as “fishes royal”. And it still stands today. So, if you find yourself fishing within three miles of England’s shoreline and accidentally catch one, you must first contact Buckingham Place and offer it to the King as a gesture of loyalty. The King also used to own the bulk of Scotland’s marine life as well. However, they’re now owned by Marine Scotland.
Did you know that King Charles III technically also owns all the unclaimed swans in open water in England and Wales? Actually, the King only exercises ownership over certain stretches and tributaries of the River Thames around Windsor.
Each year, the King finds out just how many swans he can claim ownership of. This takes place in an event called the Swan Upping. This is a five-day event where the swans are counted.
Between the corgis, and the public’s swans and dolphins, the late Queen Elizabeth II was clearly a dedicated animal lover. This might explain why Balmoral Castle is also home to a colony of bats. Rumor has it that The Queen used to chase the bats and catch them with a butterfly net as they flew around her home. But err, obviously we can’t prove that.