MPs call for iconic bearskin caps of Buckingham Palace guards to be replaced by fake fur to 'meet today's ethical standards'

A cross-party group of MPs has urged the Government to stop using real bear pelts to make the well-known hats worn by soldiers who stand guard outside Buckingham Palace.Bearskin caps should be replaced with fake fur to 'meet today's ethical standards', the group of 18 MPs and one peer said in a letter to defence minister Luke Pollard.The parliamentarians, from Labour, the Lib Dems and the Green Party, said the Government's use of real bearskin sourced from Canada is 'impossible to justify'.The letter to the Plymouth Sutton and Devonport MP added that 'both Parliament and the British public have consistently rejected the cruelty associated with the fur trade'.The longstanding dispute over the bearskin caps, a central feature of the King's Guard uniform that cost more than £2,000 each, has raged on for over two decades, with celebrities like Stephen Fry endorsing the animal activists' campaign.The letter to Mr Pollard said: 'You, yourself, have publicly expressed opposition to the use of fur.'The Government's continued use of real bearskin is impossible to justify. This moment calls for leadership and modernising the caps to meet today's ethical standards.'We call on you to instruct the Ministry of Defence and its suppliers to work proactively with manufacturers to develop and adopt a suitable faux fur alternative, in line with the Government's commitment to advancing animal welfare.'A cross-party group of MPs has urged the Government to stop using real bear pelts to make the well-known hats worn by soldiers who stand guard outside Buckingham Palace In 2024, Peta shared a video which they claimed to show hunters baiting the bears with buckets of sweet foods before shooting them with a crossbowThe MPs added: 'Most urgently, while this process continues, bears are still being shot with crossbows and killed, their cubs orphaned, and their pelts used to produce new caps.'The Ministry of Defence must suspend any further orders of real bearskins pending a faux-fur replacement.'Earlier this summer, activists installed a billboard outside Mr Pollard's Frankfort Gate constituency office calling on the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to go 'fur-free'.The defence minister told Plymouth Live at the time: 'I want to replace bearskin fur caps with artificial materials because animal welfare is incredibly important to me.'But he insisted that an alternative had to meet criteria for 'water penetration, water absorption, drying rate, appearance, and compression' and no alternatives currently meet these standards.He stressed that he would be supportive of any future proposals by activists should the suggested material meet these required standards. Bearskin caps were introduced into the British Army after the battle of Waterloo in 1815 to make soldiers look more intimidating in combat.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 but are most famous for being worn by the King's Guard, the sentries who guard Buckingham Palace and St James's Palace in London.'Hunting tags' are issued by the Canadian government for hunters to kill an allotted number every year and sell their pelts. The animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) shared a video exposé in 2024 that they claimed to show hunters baiting the bears with buckets of sweet foods like bagels and biscuits before shooting them with a crossbow.The group say that the bears are shot several times with some escaping to die slowly of their wounds that can lead to gangrene, blood loss, dehydration and subsequent starvation. The MoD said in response to the video: 'Bears are not hunted to order for the Ministry of Defence and bear pelts used are a product of legal and licensed hunts.'Orders for the tall fur caps have risen more than fourfold since the Labour party took power, according to data obtained by Peta under freedom of information laws, rising from 22 caps in 2024 to 96 in 2025.The Government said it supported replacing bearskin caps with a faux fur alternative and would be happy to work with Peta 'should they wish to re-engage'.Peta has sustained a campaign to replace the caps with faux fur over recent years, including through a petition to Parliament, and legal action against the Government.The previous Conservative government said it had looked into replacing the caps with a synthetic alternative, but said no material had met the standards of real fur.A MoD spokesman said: 'The MoD backs replacing bearskin caps with a faux fur alternative and we have set five tests any alternative must pass.'We are happy resuming work with Peta on an alternative should they wish to re-engage.'