LONDON: An animal rights group trying to get real fur out of the bearskin caps worn by King’s Guards at Buckingham Palace took aim Thursday at the cost of the ceremonial garb.
The price of the caps soared 30 percent in a year to more than 2,000 pounds ($2,600) apiece for the hats made of black bear fur, the Ministry of Defense said in response to a freedom of information request by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
“Stop wasting taxpayer pounds on caps made from slaughtered wildlife and switch to faux fur today,” the group said in a statement.
A luxury fake fur maker has offered to supply the army with free faux bear fur for 10 years, PETA said.
The military said it was open to exploring alternatives if they pass muster in durability, water protection and appearance. But “no alternative has met all those criteria to date,” a ministry spokesperson said in a statement.
The distinctive tall black hats, worn by guards in bright scarlet tunics, are seen by millions who watch the regular changing of the guard ceremony at the palace. They also appear at other royal events including the annual Trooping the Color ceremony honoring the monarch’s birthday in June.
The cost of the caps rose from 1,560 pounds ($2,035) each in 2022 to 2,040 pounds ($2,660) in 2023, the ministry said. More than 1 million pounds ($1.3 million) was spent on them in the past decade.
The price went up because of a contract change for fur that comes from bears killed in licensed hunts in Canada, the military said. Each cap requires one bear pelt, PETA said.
PETA, hich has been pushing for more than two decades to scrap the fur hats, said each cap requires one bear pelt. The group claimed that the defense department is propping up the “cruel” Canadian bear-hunting industry.
The ministry denied that charge and said if it stopped buying the pelts, it would not reduce the numbers of bears being killed.
Parliament debated the issue in July 2022 after an online petition with more than 100,000 signatures called for using fake fur in the caps.
“This hunting involves the violent killing of bears, with many bears being shot several times,” Martyn Day, then a Scottish National Party member of Parliament, said at the time. “It seems undeniable, therefore, that by continuing to purchase hats made from the fur of black bears the MOD is funding the suffering of bears in Canada by making the baiting and killing of those animals and the sale of their pelts a profitable pursuit for the hunters.”
Day said a poll at the time found 75 percent of the UK population found real bearskins were a bad use of taxpayer money and supported replacing the hats.
He noted that the late Queen Elizabeth II had ceased buying fur for her wardrobe.
Earlier this year, Queen Camilla, wife of King Charles III, pledged to buy no more fur products.
Animal rights groups object to Buckingham Palace guard’s distinctive bearskin caps
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Animal rights groups object to Buckingham Palace guard’s distinctive bearskin caps
- The Ministry of Defense released the figures in response to a freedom of information request by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
Erika Kirk, widow of influential activist, endorses Vance for US President
- “We are going to get my husband’s friend JD Vance elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible,” she said
- The endorsement comes as the Make America Great Again movement begins to look to a future without Trump
PHOENIX, USA: The widow of murdered right-wing activist Charlie Kirk has endorsed JD Vance for president in 2028, firing an early starting gun on the White House race, and offering the backing of the influential youth organization founded by her husband.
Erika Kirk, whose husband’s Turning Point USA was a major player in mobilizing young people to vote for Donald Trump in 2024, told thousands of attendees she was backing the vice president to become the 48th president.
“We are going to get my husband’s friend JD Vance elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible,” she said on Thursday night at AmericaFest, the first major Turning Point gathering since Charlie Kirk was killed.
Vance is due to speak at the gathering on Sunday.
The endorsement comes as the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement begins to look to a future without Trump.
Vance has not yet committed to running in 2028, but he is widely expected to put himself forward.
An early endorsement from a group that has become increasingly powerful within the movement could help to create momentum that makes a Vance candidacy seem inevitable.
But it also comes at a time that fractures in the MAGA movement are becoming increasingly obvious, and as some key figures are starting to express frustration and disillusionment with Trump.
Last month, firebrand Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene launched a blistering attack on Trump’s second-term agenda, which she said was betraying voters.
Greene, until recently one of Trump’s most loyal lieutenants, has said she will leave congress in January, with some commentators speculating that she might make a tilt at 2028.
Other figures on the right, including white nationalist Nick Fuentes, also appear to be trying to lay claim to the crown.
Vance was close to Charlie Kirk in the months and years before he was shot dead on a Utah college campus, in a political assassination that shocked America and sent conservatives into shocked mourning.
The vice president flew to Utah to console Erika Kirk and to accompany Charlie Kirk’s body back to the couple’s Arizona home.
Footage showed Vance walking with the coffin as it was loaded onto Air Force Two.
Charlie Kirk, 31, was a talented speaker who toured college campuses where he challenged young people to debates on hot-button issues.
Edited clips of these confrontations helped build a large social media following, which he parlayed into a movement that worked to mobilize young voters on right-wing issues.
A month after his death, Trump posthumously awarded him the Presidential medal of Freedom, hailing the young activist as a “martyr for truth and freedom.”
