Carol Royle
Star of stage and screen Carol Royle is a staunch advocate for cruelty-free living.
We asked when and why she started her vegetarian/vegan journey.
"I was at drama school in 1973 and I had just got back home late at night after a rehearsal. My father was watching the news and there was an item about ‘beef mountains’; the farmer was shooting calves between the eyes and throwing them onto a huge pile of cows – they were ‘superfluous’. I turned to my father, a steadfast meat-eater, and said I would never eat meat again.
"Then about 9 years ago, my daughter now growing up and deciding to become a vegan, I decided to become one too. I was able not to be a hypocrite anymore because the times were changing; there was a positive zeitgeist afoot and the youth were taking the batons from people like me, running with them and making their voices heard; it had become a political movement including not only the sentience of the creatures, whom we should respect for their right to life, but climate change too. This made the arguments less easy for people to have with you, not to say that some don’t still try, they do, but the choices of food etc., now makes it easier for those who want this kinder type of life.
"It takes time and you have to keep hammering on doors, but these inroads have now been made, at least in our country, and those inroads are becoming much more prevalent."
What would you say to the 'older person' thinking of going vegan or vegetarian?
"I would talk to them about what might be stopping them from doing it; the benefits to their energy; fewer animal fats in their bodies; the feeling you have through living a ‘kind’ life. I would also direct them to films that inform and are revelations for those who might not have understood the realities of the factory farm and the abattoir, for every animal who has to experience them."
Carol is a patron of the following charities:
- Animal Free Research UK: https://www.animalfreeresearchuk.org/
- Safer Medicines Trust: https://safermedicines.org/
- Animal Aid: https://www.animalaid.org.uk/
- Friends of the Animals: https://www.friendsoftheanimals.co.uk/
Carol is also affiliated to The League Against Cruel Sports, Respect for Animals, Compassion in World Farming, and supports the Humane Research Trust and Born Free.