Livia Giuggioli, a sustainable fashion campaigner and the former wife of the actor Colin Firth, has torn up her honorary MBE in protest over Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK and his “poisonous rhetoric”.
Hailed as the “queen of the green carpet”, Giuggioli was among the recipients of honorary British awards to foreign nationals in 2019 for services to sustainable fashion.
In an Instagram video posted on Wednesday, the Italian activist shredded her MBE certificate and said she was returning the medal to the UK authorities.
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“I cannot reconcile being part of the British empire, particularly in light of what happened last week,” she said in reference to Trump’s visit.
Giuggioli, who is also a film producer, said the visit appeased “someone who stands for the obliteration of the natural world and the most vulnerable people on Earth”.
Giuggioli, whose 22-year marriage to Firth ended in 2019, said she was angered by Trump’s visit and his belligerent speech to the UN general assembly on Tuesday.
In a post accompanying the video, she said: “As I write this, we see that horrible excuse of a human (called Trump) in full flow at the UN general assembly, his poisonous rethoric [sic] amplified and legitimised. I have been reflecting on his visit to the UK last week and I am afraid I can’t reconcile the way he was appeased and honoured and, again, legitimised.”
Giuggioli said she was given the MBE for trying to make the fashion supply chain more just and safe for garment workers worldwide. She said she had accepted the award on behalf of those workers, despite her opposition to the “toxic” remnants of the British empire.
She also praised King Charles for his work on social and environmental justice. But she added: “Last week’s display showed me nothing of those values I thought King Charles upheld – or its spirit … I know so many honourable, decent British people who will be unable to reconcile their deeply held values of fairness and justice with the grotesque pantomime we witnessed.”