Did you know that the guards at Buckingham Palace wear hats made from the fur of beautiful bears? The pelts are sold to the palace from Canada, where these gorgeous creatures are hunted, leaving them dead and their cubs starving. Of course the palace replies that the fur is from legally-hunted bears, but that’s besides the point. A petition with over 100,00 signature was debated in Parliament in 2022, but since then, nothing has changed.
The campaign has now been taken up by Stephen Fry, who says that these days, quality faux fur alternatives are readily available, and the MoD could work with experts to come up with a solution. Italy and Sweden now use faux fur for official ceremonies, so why not us? Although Queen Elizabeth II often wore fur, she gave up wearing new fur for a few years before her death. So changing the hats to faux fur would be a fitting tribute to her memory.
Protecting the Royal Family, I am protecting what it means to be British. Wearing the skin of a dead bear on my accomplishes none of that. Ornamental hats born of needless bloodshed are a sign of weakness – and that is not British. A royal guard