Shrimps joins PETA in call to drop use of bearskin for Queen’s Guard caps

Founder of cruelty-free brand Shrimps, Hannah Weiland, has joined a growing call demanding to drop the use of bearskins for the Queen’s Guards’ caps.

Weiland has teamed up with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) for a letter directed to UK prime minister Boris Johnson asking for the caps’ material to be replaced with faux fur from specialist manufacturer, Ecopel.

In the letter, the designer noted that Shrimps has worked with Ecopel’s “high quality, durable faux furs for many years” and asks Johnson to adopt the animal-free alternative.

“As a fashion designer and animal lover who specialises in working with faux fur, I am deeply troubled by the UK’s continued use of bears’ skins to make the ornamental Queen’s Guard’s caps, when an indistinguishable, cruelty-free faux fur fabric has been tried and tested and is ready to be rolled out,” Weiland wrote in the letter.

She continued: “Fur farming has been banned in the UK for more than 20 years, and much of the British public, including – ironically – the guards’ charge, Her Majesty the Queen, refuse to buy animal fur. Please instruct the MoD to move with the times and ensure that, going forward, all new caps are made only from cruelty-free faux fur. It’s what the British public wants and what bears need.”

According to PETA, the ministry has not yet taken up Ecopel’s offer to supply unlimited faux bear fur free of charge until 2030, a move the organisation said could save over one million pounds of taxpayer money.