Lucy Davis’s Heartfelt Plea to PM: Make King’s Guard Caps Fur-Free ‘in My Lifetime’
After being diagnosed with incurable cancer, The Office star Lucy Davis has made a heartfelt plea to Prime Minister Andy Burnham: end the King’s Guard’s use of real bear fur. Bears in Canada are shot for ceremonial caps even though a faux-fur alternative exists.
The longtime PETA ally’s letter asks the PM to urgently instruct the Ministry of Defence to replace the real bear fur used for the King’s Guard’s caps with faux fur.
“Faux fur has come an awfully long way, and there is no reason why the grandeur and tradition of the King’s Guards’ caps cannot be preserved without costing bears their lives. I’ve spent much of my life advocating for animals and being recently diagnosed with incurable cancer has inevitably made me think more about the time I have left. I sincerely hope I get to see Britain finally commit to the caps being fur-free.”
Lucy Davis
The ministry purchases finished caps from capmakers who source bear fur from Canada. A 2024 PETA video exposé revealed that hunters often bait bears with buckets of sweet food before shooting them with high-powered crossbows, a form of hunting illegal in the UK under wildlife protection laws. Many bears are shot several times, and some escape only to die slowly from blood loss, gangrene, starvation, or dehydration.
Lucy’s appeal comes nearly 20 years after she bared all for bears to call for an end to the use of fur in the ceremonial caps. In her letter she concludes, “Please, Prime Minister, won’t you make this happen in my lifetime?”
What You Can Do
It’s way past time to modernise this iconic symbol of the UK by switching to a humane faux fur. With all of the resources and technical expertise at the MoD’s disposal, it surely cannot be bested by a cap and must act now!
Urge your MP to support the switch to faux fur:
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