With its stuffed rhino heads and gleaming white tusks , the trophy room at Sandringham was a relic of a bygone era – as well as rather embarrassing for animal welfare crusader Prince William . But now the age of political correctness appears to have caught up with the Queen ’ s Norfolk estate . For every last piece of hunting memorabilia has been removed from public display and replaced with what one visitor called ‘ trinkets and bric-a-brac ’ . Throwback : How the trophy room at Sandringham used to look , complete with stuffed rhino heads . Bric-a-brac : Sandringham 's updated display - and even the blood-red walls have been repainted white . All 62 items – including an Indian tiger , a leopard , skins and tusks – have been placed in storage . Even the blood-red walls have been painted white , as if to make clear the break with the past . The drastic change was apparent when the estate reopened its doors to the public on Saturday . Following the winter closure , a new sign outside the Sandringham museum makes pointed reference to how changing times have spelled the end for some exhibits . After explaining that the museum opened in 1928 to house George V ’ s collection of ‘ big game trophies ’ , the message says : ‘ Thankfully , due to the work of organisations like the World Wide Fund for Nature , whose President was HRH Prince Philip until 1996 , this destructive era is drawing to a close – the camera having replaced the gun in recording the sightings of these magnificent animals. ’ Questions were raised in December about the legality of ‘ unworked items ’ – those not fundamentally changed from their natural state – dating from prior to 1947 . Under a European Council regulation , the uncarved ivory , stuffed lions and white rhinos all potentially broke the law as they were not on show with an official certificate . The Animal and Plant Health Agency – an arm of the Department for Environment , Food and Rural Affairs – confirmed there was a ‘ potential legal question mark ’ about some of the contents of the room . Bygone era : The room , which featured stuffed lions , must have been embarrassing for animal welfare crusader Prince William . Chnging times : Now every last piece of hunting memorabilia has been removed from public display . The situation was particularly embarrassing for Prince William , who had just denounced the illegal wildlife trade in ivory , rhino horn and endangered animal parts during a speech in Washington DC . He had also previously called for the Royal Family ’ s ivory collection to be destroyed . And the royals now appear to have taken decisive action by removing the items from display – but whether their replacements are particularly interesting is another matter entirely . The new items include an ashtray used by King George V , a Sandringham Cycling Club badge dating from 1895 and an embroidered cover of Radio Times that marked the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer . An ornate cabinet of ‘ curios ’ from a primary school on the estate contains dolls , jewellery made from oyster shells and a dried puffer fish . The only other creatures to be found are stuffed birds in a glass cabinet and a butterfly collection . One visitor who went along to Sandringham on Saturday said : ‘ Every last animal head , stuffed animal or skin has gone . Gone : All 62 items – including an Indian tiger , a leopard , skins and tusks – have been placed in storage . ‘ There ’ s a real mixed bag now of bizarre and random things . Someone has come in and taken everything out of there , whitewashed the place and put in an entire room of trinkets and bric-a-brac. ’ A spokesman for Buckingham Palace said yesterday that the trophies had been put away to make room for an exhibition of paintings by members of the British , Danish , Greek and Russian royal families . He added : ‘ Changes were made to the Sandringham museum during the winter closure as part of an ongoing process of updating and refreshing the displays. ’ A source said the legality of around five items had been questioned although those in charge of the collection were ‘ still sure ’ they had not broken the law .
All hunting memorabilia removed from public display at Norfolk estate . More than 60 items , including an Indian tiger , have been placed in storage . And the blood-red walls have been painted white to make change clear . New sign outside Sandringham museum makes pointed reference to how changing times have spelled the end for some exhibits .