Morrissey has branded Prince William a "thickwit" for apparently supporting hunting.

The British royal and his brother Prince Harry reportedly spent time recently in Spain on a hunting trip before he joined up with his father Prince Charles to call for an end to hunting endangered species.

This has irked animal rights supporter Morrissey, who said in a statement that the royal was hypocritical. He said:

"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! Although William's speech... will concentrate on endangered species, William is too thickwit to realise 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...

"Just why William kills innocent and defenseless deer does not matter - the fact is, he does it, and we must go on and on asking why any form of violence is acceptable to the British establishment... the British (Royal) Family never fails to be a colossal embarrassment to the United Kingdom...

"The rationalists amongst us - who are never allowed to speak, are intelligent enough to realise 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."