London - Queen Elizabeth was criticised by anti-hunting campaigners yesterday after being pictured wringing the neck of a pheasant during a royal shooting session.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: "It was clearly the most effective and humane way of dispatching the injured bird."
Mr John Bryant, of the anti-hunt group, Protect Our Wild Animals, said it was "a horrific example of the brutality and callousness of slaughtering birds for entertainment".