Homeopathy for farmers … with the support of Prince Charles … foolish and immoral

UK farmers are being taught how to treat their livestock with homeopathy “by kind permission of His Royal Highness, The Prince Of Wales”. This website explains:

The Homeopathy at Wellie Level (HAWL) Course has been developed specifically for those who tend livestock by the School of Agricultural Homeopathy, and is taught by homeopathic vets and qualified homeopaths – all with farm experience.  This is the ONLY course in the UK to provide qualified teaching aimed at empowering farmers and smallholders to use homeopathy for their animals with both confidence and understanding. We have been operational since 2001 and over the years have gathered literally hundreds of positive feedback comments and course testimonials >>> Homeopathy for farmers … with the support of Prince Charles … foolish and immoral

Happy Birthday YOUR ROYAL HIGHNESS

Today, Price Charles celebrates his 69th birthday. Gun salutes will mark the occasion but he is said to celebrate in private. As in previous years, I take this occasion to update my tribute to him. Charles is one of the world’s most outspoken proponent of alternative medicine and attacker of science. He therefore has a […]
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Gibraltar will stay British!!! … thanks to the innovative work of homeopaths

Several months ago, the Gibraltar Homeopathic Council (GHC) had called for an emergency meeting to discuss the future of Gibraltar. At that meeting, members voiced grave concern over Brexit; the main problem, they predicted, would be that Spain might use the general confusion during the early days of the negotiations to claim back their homeland. It was then that they decided to meet with their patron, Prince Charles. A secret meeting was thus held at High Grove in the presence of leading UK homeopaths, and a cunning plan was devised […]

Rock on to the full post

Prince Charles’ passion for quackery is a hindrance to progress

‘Country News’ just published an article about our heir to the throne. Here is an excerpt:

The Prince of Wales has revealed he uses homeopathic treatments for animals on his organic farm at Highgrove to help reduce reliance on antibiotics, the article stated. He said his methods of farming tried wherever possible to ‘‘go with the grain of nature’’ to avoid dependency on antibiotics, pesticides and other forms of chemical intervention.

The prince made these comments to experts at a summit at the Royal Society in London as part of a global battle against the growing threat of antibiotic resistance. ‘‘In fact, it was one of the reasons I converted my farming operation to an organic, or agro-ecological, system over 30 years ago, and why incidentally we have been successfully using homeopathic — yes, homeopathic — treatments for my cattle and sheep as part of a program to reduce the use of antibiotics,’’ Prince Charles said. Calling for ‘‘urgent and coherent’’ global action, he said antibiotics were being overused. ‘‘It must be incredibly frustrating to witness the fact that, as has been pointed out by many authorities, antibiotics have too often simply acted as a substitute for basic hygiene, or as it would seem, as a way of placating a patient who has a viral infection or who actually needs little more than patience to allow a minor bacterial infection to resolve itself.’’ […]

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Happy 68th birthday YOUR ROYAL HIGHNESS!

Prince Charles celebrates his 68th birthday today. Time to update the tribute which I dedicated to him on this occasion three years ago. Charles is, of course, one of the world’s most outspoken and influential proponent of alternative medicine and a notorious attacker of science. This is why he has featured on this blog with some regularity. His love affair with all things alternative started early in his life.

As a youngster, Charles went on a journey of ‘spiritual discovery’ into the wilderness of northern Kenya. His guru and guide was Laurens van der Post (later discovered to be a fraud and compulsive fantasist...

Read on: Happy 68th birthday YOUR ROYAL HIGHNESS!

Alternative therapies: the emperor’s new clothes?

This is the title of a lecture I was asked to give yesterday to an audience of palliative cancer care professionals. During the last days, I have therefore thought about the Anderson-tale quite a bit. For those who don’t know the story (is there such a person?), it is a tale about two con-men who promise the emperor new clothes which, they claim, are invisible to anyone who is incompetent or stupid. When the Emperor parades before his subjects in his new clothes, no one dares to say that he is, in fact, naked. Finally, a child cries out, “But he isn’t wearing anything at all!”...

Read on: Alternative therapies: the emperor’s new clothes?

Prince Charles: may I humbly suggest a research project? | Edzard Ernst

Prince Charles’ views on health have repeatedly taken centre stage on this blog. And rightly so; they are often weird and wonderful. In 2013, for instance, I quoted them extensively:

Charles stands for…”the kind of care that integrates the best of new technology and current knowledge with ancient wisdom. More specifically, perhaps, it is an approach to […]

Read on: Prince Charles: may I humbly suggest a research project?

A deer, an Audi and a Prince … and some fantastic homeopathy? | Edzard Ernst

Prince Charles’s car has been involved in a collision with a deer in the area around Balmoral, THE GUARDIAN reported. Charles remained uninjured but shaken by the incident. The condition of the deer is unknown but might be much worse. The Prince’s Audi was damaged in the collision at the Queen’s Aberdeenshire estate and sent away for repairs. A spokesman for Clarence […]

Read on: A deer, an Audi and a Prince … and some fantastic homeopathy?

Are nonsense ‘cures’ for cancer a ‘soft target’?

I confess to wondering whether Edzard Ernst’s recent increased activity at The Spectator website has arisen due to the latter’s cynical recognition (following the lengthy reaction to Tarek Arab’s naïve, quackery-appeasing dreck) of his sure-fire clickbait potential. Certainly, a run of homeopathy-centric articles this month (May 2016) provoked some of the harpies who descend on these things in order to promote their cult to potential converts. And, inevitably, this draws reaction from those of a sceptical bent.


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Charles, our considerate prince* | Edzard Ernst

It has been reported in most newspapers that Prince Charles has proposed a solution to the problem of antibiotic over-use in animals and humans. He told an international gathering of scientists and government officials in London that he treats his own cows and sheep with homeopathy. Many people reacted with dismay. I, however, plead for more understanding […]

Read on: Charles, our considerate prince*

PRINCE CHARLES: the ‘immense value’ of alternative diagnostic methods | Edzard Ernst

Non-validated diagnostic methods, like those in abundant use in alternative medicine, run an unacceptably high risk of producing false positive or false negative diagnoses. The former would be a diagnosis that the patient is, in fact, not suffering from; this enables the charlatan to get rich on treating something that is not even there. The […]

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Homeopathy: opinions of two outstanding experts | Edzard Ernst

The Nobel laureate Venkatraman Ramakrishnan recently called homeopathy ‘bogus’. “They (homeopaths) take arsenic compounds and dilute it to such an extent that just a molecule is left. It will not make any effect on you. Your tap water has more arsenic. No one in chemistry believes in homeopathy. It works because of placebo effect,” he was quoted […]

Read on: Homeopathy: opinions of two outstanding experts

Prince Charles and the basic laws of stupidity | Edzard Ernst

All this recent attention to Charles’ amazing letters and unconstitutional meddling made me think quite a lot about STUPIDITY. Thus I came across the writings of Carlo Maria Cipolla who seemed to have thought deeply about human stupidity. He described “The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity” and viewed stupid people as a group of individuals who are more powerful by […]

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The ‘spider memo’ which the press forgot | Edzard Ernst

Prince Charles’ meddling beyond his constitutional role is yet again in the press today. I was sent the 2nd batch of ‘spider memos’ yesterday, studied them and commented as follows:

The letters demonstrate yet again that Prince Charles relentlessly meddles in UK health politics and thus disrespects his constitutional role. His arguments in favour of CAM, and […]

Read on: The ‘spider memo’ which the press forgot

Prince Charles’ letters confirm that he’s not fit to be king

Picture: Getty

This post was written for the Spectator Health section, at short notice after the release of the spider letters. The following version is almost the same as appeared there, with a few updates. Some of the later sections are self-plagiarised from earlier posts.

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The age of enlightenment was a beautiful thing. People cast aside dogma and authority. They started to think for themselves. Natural science flourished. Understanding of the natural world increased. The hegemony of religion slowly declined. Eventually real universities were created and real democracy developed. The modern world was born.

People like Francis Bacon, Voltaire and Isaac Newton changed the world for the better. Well, that’s what most people think. But not Charles, Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall.

In 2010 he said...

Read more at Prince Charles’ letters confirm that he’s not fit to be king by David Colquhoun

Wonderland (6): attempts to sabotage my scientific, moral and ethical standards | Edzard Ernst

My memoir ‘A SCIENTIST IN WONDERLAND’ continues to get rather splendid reviews. On 23 March, it will be published also in a German edition. Probably a good time to post another short excerpt from it.

The following episode gives just one of many examples of attempts by my Exeter peers to sabotage my scientific, moral and ethical standards. The players in this scene are: […]

Read on for the grisly details: Wonderland (6): attempts to sabotage my scientific, moral and ethical standards

Seven things to remember when you are tempted to try homeopathy | Edzard Ernst

THIS POST IS DEDICATED TO HRH, THE PRINCE OF WALES WHO CELEBRATES HIS 66TH BIRTHDAY TODAY AND HAS SUPPORTED HOMEOPATHY ALL HIS LIFE

Like Charles, many people are fond of homeopathy; it is particularly popular in India, Germany, France and parts of South America. With all types of health care, it is important to make therapeutic decisions in the knowledge of the crucial facts. In order to aid evidence-based decision-making, I will summarise a few things you might want to consider before you try homeopathy – either by buying homeopathic remedies over the counter, or by consulting a homeopath.

Read on: Seven things to remember when you are tempted to try homeopathy