Dutch royal house The Hague confirms it will no longer serve foie gras

The Hague has confirmed it will no longer serve foie gras, following in the footsteps of the UK monarchy.

Home to King Willem-Alexander, the royal residence has spoken to vegan charity PETA about the controversial food.

According to the charity, a Marshal of the Court said the royal house will ‘no longer make dishes that contain foie gras’, or will it ‘ever order foie gras from external establishments’.

The Hague ditches foie gras

“PETA commends His Majesty for keeping tormented birds’ diseased livers away from the royal palace,” said PETA Vice President for UK, Europe and Australia Mimi Bekhechi.

“Foie gras is an abhorrent product that has no place in modern society.”

Will the UK ever budge?

Despite foie gras being illegal to produce in the UK, the government has long put off banning it from being imported. 

During Boris Johnson’s time as Prime Minister, the Conservatives introduced an animal welfare action which pledged to ‘introduce measures to protect the welfare of animals abroad’.

The Animals Abroad Bill encouraged curbs on fur and foie gras imports, as well as trophy hunting. 

However, last year cabinet members intervened to block the bill, with one senior politician arguing “banning things seems very socialist.”

Then, environment secretary Therese Coffey suggested the bill could be shelved completely.

“Animal welfare is very important,” she said in an interview with The Telegraph. 

“All I would say right now is that we need to think through priorities. We stand by the welfare action plan, but there’s only so [much] time that we can get the legislation.”

However, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has said ‘future legislation to ban the imports of fur and foie gras has not been “dropped” or “shelved”. 

It blames limited Parliamentary time for the lack of progress.

Want a cruelty-free foie gras? Try making your very own vegan faux gras

Featured image: neirfy via Getty Images