{"id":2173346,"date":"2024-01-14T12:00:01","date_gmt":"2024-01-14T11:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/?p=2173346"},"modified":"2026-07-15T12:44:55","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T11:44:55","slug":"poll-should-the-use-of-real-bear-fur-in-the-iconic-bearskin-caps-worn-by-kings-guard-during-ceremonial-duties-be-banned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/poll-should-the-use-of-real-bear-fur-in-the-iconic-bearskin-caps-worn-by-kings-guard-during-ceremonial-duties-be-banned\/","title":{"rendered":"POLL: Should the use of real bear fur in the iconic bearskin caps worn by King&#8217;s Guard during ceremonial duties be banned?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Bearskin hats are an iconic feature of royal events, including the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace.<\/p>\n<p>The King &#8211; a keen environmentalist &#8211; is seen wearing bearskin alongside other members of the Royal Family at parades such as Trooping the Colour.<\/p>\n<p>The famous actor and broadcaster Mr Stephen Fry said: &#8216;Tradition is never an excuse for cruelty, which is why I&#8217;m joining the call for the Ministry of Defence to stop using the fur of slaughtered wildlife and make the switch to humane faux fur for the King&#8217;s Guard&#8217;s caps.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>The 66-year-old has narrated a video for animal rights group PETA that uses footage of bears being killed by hunters in Canada.<\/p>\n<p>The group claims to film hunters using bagels, biscuits and oil to bait bears before shooting them with crossbows.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Black bears are mercilessly killed by trophy hunters,&#8217; he said. &#8216;They may then be used to make the caps used by the King&#8217;s Guard &#8211; purely ornamental headgear that serves no military purpose.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Bears who are shot don&#8217;t always die outright. They may flee and endure a slow and painful death from infection or blood loss &#8211; only to be found hours later after the hunters follow a blood trail.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"molvideoplayer\" title=\"MailOnline Embed Player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/embed\/video\/3097449.html\" width=\"698\" height=\"573\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>It takes at least one bear to provide enough fur for each cap, says Mr Fry &#8211; who added last May&#8217;s Coronation.<\/p>\n<p>He claims demand for fur from the King&#8217;s Guard was &#8216;incentivising&#8217; hunters.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Fry says fake fur was available that was as effective as bear fur.<\/p>\n<p>The Ministry of Defence said: &#8216;Bears are not hunted to order for the Ministry of Defence and bear pelts used are a product of legal and licensed hunts.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;To date and to the Department&#8217;s knowledge, an alternative has yet to meet the standards required to provide an effective replacement for the bearskin ceremonial caps.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>The use of real bearskin by the Army has long been a matter of controversy.<\/p>\n<p>In 2022, Boris Johnson backed its continued use, telling constituents that &#8216;man-made fur did not meet the standards required&#8217; before insisting &#8216;all these matters are kept under review&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>Tourists visiting London flock to see the Guards in their traditional hats, which have been worn since the 1815 defeat of Napoleon.<\/p>\n<p>The ceremonial headdress can only be worn by foot soldiers in certain regiments, including the Grenadier Guards, the Coldstream Guards, the Scots Guards, the Irish Guards and the Welsh Guards.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The British Army bearskin: A Napoleonic prize with 200 years of history<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Bearskins, up to 18in tall and weighing around two pounds, are worn by the Grenadier, Welsh, Irish, Scots and Coldstream Guards.<\/p>\n<p>They are synonymous with the pomp and splendour of events such as the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace and the Trooping the Colour ceremony.<\/p>\n<p>Made from the pelts of Canadian black bear, the material is warm and water resistant, retaining its distinctive shape no matter the weather.<\/p>\n<p>Army top brass have been happy to adopt modern synthetics in other cases.<\/p>\n<p>Fake leopardskin is now worn by drummers in marching bands, while the smaller busby hats worn by the King&#8217;s Troop are no longer made from beaver fur.<\/p>\n<p>Bearskins were adopted in the 18th century because the brimmed hats worn by grenadiers obstructed their view when they were hurling grenades.<\/p>\n<p>In 1768, it was ordered that grenadiers in the Foot Guards wear caps of black bearskin, with the motto Nec Aspera Terrent (Not even difficulties deter us) on a silver King&#8217;s Crest on the front.<\/p>\n<p>At the battle of Waterloo in 1815, the First Regiment of Foot Guards defeated the grenadiers of Napoleon&#8217;s Guard. They were rewarded with the title of Grenadier Regiment, with every soldier allowed to wear a bearskin.<\/p>\n<p>The Army takes 100 skins each year, thought to be a small fraction of the thousands of bears that are killed to keep numbers under control.<\/p>\n<hr style=\"border-top: 1px solid white;\" \/>\n<p>We invite you to share your opinion whether the use of real bear fur in the iconic bearskin caps worn by King&#8217;s Guard during ceremonial duties should be banned? Please vote and leave your comments at the bottom of this page.<\/p>\n<div id=\"polls-765\" class=\"wp-polls\">\n\t<form id=\"polls_form_765\" class=\"wp-polls-form\" action=\"\/news\/index.php\" method=\"post\">\n\t\t<p style=\"display: none;\"><input type=\"hidden\" id=\"poll_765_nonce\" name=\"wp-polls-nonce\" value=\"182b7156d0\" \/><\/p>\n\t\t<p style=\"display: none;\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"poll_id\" value=\"765\" \/><\/p>\n\t\t<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Should the use of real bear fur in the iconic bearskin caps worn by King's Guard during ceremonial duties be banned?<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"polls-765-ans\" class=\"wp-polls-ans\"><ul class=\"wp-polls-ul\">\n\t\t<li><input type=\"radio\" id=\"poll-answer-3918\" name=\"poll_765\" value=\"3918\" \/> <label for=\"poll-answer-3918\">Yes<\/label><\/li>\n\t\t<li><input type=\"radio\" id=\"poll-answer-3919\" name=\"poll_765\" value=\"3919\" \/> <label for=\"poll-answer-3919\">No<\/label><\/li>\n\t\t<li><input type=\"radio\" id=\"poll-answer-3920\" name=\"poll_765\" value=\"3920\" \/> <label for=\"poll-answer-3920\">Don't Know<\/label><\/li>\n\t\t<\/ul><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><input type=\"button\" name=\"vote\" value=\"   Vote   \" class=\"Buttons\" data-poll-id=\"765\" data-poll-action=\"vote\" \/><\/p><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"#ViewPollResults\" data-poll-id=\"765\" data-poll-action=\"result\" title=\"View Results Of This Poll\">View Results<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n\t<\/form>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"polls-765-loading\" class=\"wp-polls wp-polls-loading\"><span class=\"wp-polls-spinner\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/span> Loading ...<\/div>\n\n<hr style=\"border-top: 1px solid white;\" \/>\n<h2>What you can do<\/h2>\n<p>Help to save wildlife by donating as little as $1 &#8211; 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Lead Image:\u00a0The Ministry of Defence said: &#8216;Bears are not hunted to order for the Ministry of Defence and bear pelts used are a product of legal and licensed hunts&#8217;.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bearskin hats are an iconic feature of royal events, including the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. The King &#8211; a keen environmentalist &#8211; is seen wearing bearskin alongside other members of the Royal Family at parades such as Trooping the Colour. The famous actor and broadcaster Mr Stephen Fry said: &#8216;Tradition is never [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1178,"featured_media":2201709,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2024\/01\/10\/09\/63972741-12946327-Animal_rights_lobby_group_Peta_has_threatened_the_Ministry_of_De-a-13_1704880286015.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"POLL: Should the use of real bear fur in the iconic bearskin caps worn by King\u2019s Guard during ceremonial duties","footnotes":""},"categories":[6985,5923,5],"tags":[3123,2374,8442],"class_list":["post-2173346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-polls","category-wildlife","tag-bears","tag-black-bear","tag-black-bears"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2173346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1178"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2173346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2173346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2201709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2173346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2173346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2173346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}