Fashion activist Livia Giuggioli Firth, the ex-wife of actor Colin Firth, ripped into the British royals in protest over President Trump’s state visit to the U.K. last week.
She also ripped up her honorary Most Excellent Order of the British Empire certificate and vowed to return the medal because of how King Charles rolled out the red carpet to the polarizing MAGA leader during his two-day stay.
Livia Giuggioli, Colin Firth, King Charles and Queen Camilla in 2011. (Photo by Indigo/Getty Images)
“I cannot reconcile being part of the British empire, particularly in light of what happened last week,” Giuggioli Firth said in an Instagram video on Wednesday.
“In 2019, I was given this MBE honor for my services in trying to make the fashion supply chain a more just and less deadly place to work for garment workers across the world,” she wrote in the clip’s caption.
“Although I stand against the British Empire and remnants of that toxic system, I accepted the honour on behalf of the many garment worker activists who had educated and supported me. I also had great respect for King Charles, who was then the Prince of Wales, and his decades battling on behalf of social and environmental justice,” she continued.
The 56-year-old Italy native went on to say that last week’s glitzy display, which included a Windsor Castle banquet held in Trump’s honor, showed her “nothing of those values I thought King Charles upheld.” Instead, she called it a “frightening and cowardly display of appeasing someone who stands for the obliteration of the natural world and the most vulnerable people on earth.”
Giuggioli Firth concluded that “so many honorable, decent British people” will be unable to “reconcile their deeply held values of fairness and justice with the grotesque pantomime we witnessed.”
“I think it’s only by taking a stand that we can make our feelings known,” she said.
Giuggioli Firth, is known for her work in sustainable fashion and environmental advocacy. Her 22-year marriage to Oscar winner Colin Firth ended in 2019. The former couple share two sons, Luca and Matteo.
In 2011, Firth was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen’s 2011 Birthday Honours for his services to drama.