Campaigners call for King's Guard to ditch bear skin hats

If you've ever been to London, you might recognise the King's Guard, or perhaps even had a chance to see them in person at Buckingham Palace.

Their red uniform is super-famous, and in particular the Guard are often recognised by their striking, tall fur hats.

But for years the caps have been the centre of a heated debate because they are made out of real fur from bear skins.

Some Members of Parliament (MPs) campaigners and charities want the government to stop the use of bear skins and use other materials instead.

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The job of the King's Guard is to guard the King and his royal palaces in London.

These include Buckingham Palace and St James' Palace.

They are called the Queen's Guard if a female monarch is ruling.

The hats, known as bearskins, have been used by the British Army since 1815.

They were introduced to make the soldiers look more intimidating in battle but as with other items of the King's Guard uniform, such as swords, they are worn as part of a military tradition which symbolises the history and traditions of the monarchy.

The hats are are made from Canadian bear skins, which means they are expensive, and they are also criticised by people who think using the fur is cruel.

According to animal rights group Peta, there have been a lot of new orders for hats in recent years. Twenty-two caps were requested in 2024, and that number rose to 96 in 2025.

In 2024, it was reported that the caps cost more than £2,000 each.

A group of MPs from Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party have written to the government asking them to stop using real bear skins to make the hats.

A letter from the MPs was written to Minister for Defence Procurement Luke Pollard, saying using bear skins was "impossible to justify".

"Both Parliament and the British public have consistently rejected the cruelty associated with the fur trade," the letter argued.

It called for the government to find an alternative fabric and that instead of real bear skins, fake fur - sometimes called faux fur - should be used instead.

Faux fur means the fabric will look like fur but will be made of a different material, like plastic.

Some countries' armies that traditionally wore bearskin hats have since adopted alternatives. Italy and Sweden both traditionally used bearskins for official ceremonies, but now use faux fur instead.

In response to the MPs letter, a Ministry of Defence spokesperson has said the government does support the call for faux fur to be used and said it was happy to talk about the idea.

However it said that any replacement would need to be of equal quality to keep the soldiers warm and dry.

"The MoD backs replacing bearskin caps with a faux fur alternative and we have set five tests any alternative must pass," the spokesperson said.

Those tests include things like how water resistant any new material is, how quickly it dries, how it looks and whether it can hold the famous shape.

Previous governments have said no to faux fur hats, saying that the replacement material just isn't as good or as reliable for the caps as real fur is when dealing with the UK's rainy and windy weather.