Chris Packham: I'll take royals to task over grouse shooting when I accept CBE at Buckingham Palace

Chris Packham will interrogate the Royal Family over its participation in game shooting when he receives his CBE, he has claimed, saying: “I don’t care if it can be deemed inappropriate.”

Packham, the BBC presenter who will soon receive an honour for services to nature conservation, said he felt it was “important to say something” when he has the opportunity.

Insisting “nobody ever gets off the hook around me”, he added he planned to insert “lots of cheeky little words” into conversation when he visits Buckingham Palace to receive the CBE he was awarded in the New Year Honours.

It is not yet known whether his investiture will be conducted by the Queen, the Prince of Wales or the Duke of Cambridge.

Packham is an outspoken activist against driven grouse shooting, condemning the impact it has on the environment and urging the public to sign petitions against it.

He also has some links to royalty, with his sister Jenny Packham a favourite fashion designer of the Duchess of Cambridge.

In an interview with the Radio Times after the new series of Winterwatch, Packham said he would use his visit to the palace to question the Royal Family’s penchant for shooting game, which he “deplores”.

“There will be lots of cheeky little words, I assure you,” he said. “Nobody ever gets off the hook around me.

“You don’t get many opportunities in life, and sometimes people are a little bit shy, but if I meet someone of influence I will use that opportunity.

“I don’t care if it’s a bit clumsy, I don’t care if it can be deemed inappropriate: it’s important to say something.

“I don’t know anything about the ceremony or what happens, but I presume at some point someone’s going to hand me a medal. And whether that’s the opportunity, or another one is – don’t worry, I’ll do it.”

Asked whether he had thought twice about accepting a CBE, he added: “I had a think about it and took some advice. If it had been for broadcasting, I don’t know what I would have done. But it’s for services to nature conservation, and that’s what I’m all about.

“I’ve been given a small voice, and if I don’t exercise that voice for change then I’m not doing my duty and I couldn’t live with myself.

“One of the positives of the royal family is that they have been talking openly and honestly about their mental health issues, such as Prince William and Prince Harry dealing with their mother’s tragic death.

“That’s just the sort of bravery that I’m talking about: having the courage to come out and talk about things that will change us.

“So I’m very flattered by the offer of a CBE and I hope to use it to open more doors and have more conversations.”

Packham will soon be travelling to the Cairngorms in Scotland for four special programmes for the new series of BBC Winterwatch. This year, broadcasters disclosed, the programme will be mindful of how they show the cruelty of nature, after receiving complaints over a family of baby rabbits killed and eaten by birds on live camera.

Michaela Strachan told the magazine: “So we’ve decided that if we have anything as horrific as that again we will say, ‘This is difficult to watch, so turn away if you don’t want to see it.’

“But it’s like watching a really dramatic film and the main character dies, and you cry, and it’s awful, but you come out of the cinema and say, ‘That was brilliant.’

“You want to feel something, don’t you?”

Winterwatch returns to BBC Two on January 29. The full interview is in the Radio Times, out now.