Hunting’s out, eco activism is in says Viscountess

WHEN yoga- loving American Julie Montagu was being wooed by Viscount Hinchingbrooke, heir to the 11th Earl of Sandwich, he shot three wild boar at his 2,000- acre Mapperton estate in West Dorset and presented them to her as a welcome gift.

Now, however, the couple’s offspring are rejecting blood sports in favour of radical eco-activism.

‘We have four children and none of them are interested in traditional country sports, such as shooting,’ says Viscountess Hinchingbrooke, 50 (right), who starred in reality TV series Ladies Of London. ‘They would rather take us on a climate strike.’

The family is now ‘rewilding’ 438 acres to boost the estate’s biodiversity. She tells Spear’s magazine: ‘Rewilding is in part our response to [the children’s] priorities, and they will ensure that Mapperton develops in accordance to their values and concerns.’