UK military urged to stop using bearskin hats – on grounds of cost

Animal rights group PETA has renewed its call for soldiers outside Buckingham Palace to stop wearing real bearskin hats after UK government figures revealed they now cost $2,600 each.

The tall black hats are worn by elite regiments, including for the Changing of the Guard ceremony outside Buckingham Palace, and are one of the best-known symbols of the UK.

The cost of the hats, made from the fur of Canadian Black Bears, rose by 30 percent in a year to reach $2,600 in 2023, according to figures revealed in response to a Freedom of Information request from animal welfare campaigners.

PETA previously took the defense ministry to court in an unsuccessful bid to prevent the use of real fur, saying that there were synthetic alternatives. It now says there is an economic, as well as ethical, case to use fake fur instead.

"The government must heed the public's wishes and stop propping up Canada's cruel bear-hunting industry when it could be getting beautiful faux fur for free," said PETA vice president of programmes Elisa Allen. 

"PETA is calling on the Ministry of Defence to stop wasting taxpayer pounds on caps made from slaughtered wildlife and switch to faux fur today."

The ministry, which bought 526 bearskin hats between 2017 and July 2024, said it was "open" to fake fur alternatives but that it would have to satisfy "safety and durability considerations" and that "no alternative has met all those criteria to date."

Animal rights campaigners received a boost in May when Buckingham Palace resident Queen Camilla promised not to buy any more fur for her wardrobe.

Camilla – a keen fox hunter before it was made illegal in the UK – followed in the footsteps of late Queen Elizabeth II, who announced she would stop buying fur in 2019.

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