Animal Rights Groups Object to Buckingham Palace Guard’s Distinctive Bearskin Caps 

King's Guards wearing bearskin caps stand by Buckingham Palace, in London, Britain, September 12, 2024. (Reuters)
King's Guards wearing bearskin caps stand by Buckingham Palace, in London, Britain, September 12, 2024. (Reuters)
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Animal Rights Groups Object to Buckingham Palace Guard’s Distinctive Bearskin Caps 

King's Guards wearing bearskin caps stand by Buckingham Palace, in London, Britain, September 12, 2024. (Reuters)
King's Guards wearing bearskin caps stand by Buckingham Palace, in London, Britain, September 12, 2024. (Reuters)

An animal rights group trying to get real fur out of the bearskin caps worn by King's Guards at Buckingham Palace took aim Thursday at the cost of the ceremonial garb.

The price of the caps soared 30% in a year to more than 2,000 pounds ($2,600) apiece for the hats made of black bear fur, the Ministry of Defense said in response to a freedom of information request by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

“Stop wasting taxpayer pounds on caps made from slaughtered wildlife and switch to faux fur today,” the group said in a statement.

A luxury fake fur maker has offered to supply the army with free faux bear fur for 10 years, PETA said.

The military said it was open to exploring alternatives if they pass muster in durability, water protection and appearance. But “no alternative has met all those criteria to date,” a ministry spokesperson said in a statement.

The distinctive tall black hats, worn by guards in bright scarlet tunics, are seen by millions who watch the regular changing of the guard ceremony at the palace. They also appear at other royal events including the annual Trooping the Color ceremony honoring the monarch’s birthday in June.

The cost of the caps rose from 1,560 pounds ($2,035) each in 2022 to 2,040 pounds ($2,660) in 2023, the ministry said. More than 1 million pounds ($1.3 million) was spent on them in the past decade.

The price went up because of a contract change for fur that comes from bears killed in licensed hunts in Canada, the military said. Each cap requires one bear pelt, PETA said.

PETA, which has been pushing for more than two decades to scrap the fur hats, said each cap requires one bear pelt. The group claimed that the defense department is propping up the “cruel” Canadian bear-hunting industry.

The ministry denied that charge and said if it stopped buying the pelts, it would not reduce the numbers of bears being killed.

Parliament debated the issue in July 2022 after an online petition with more than 100,000 signatures called for using fake fur in the caps.

“This hunting involves the violent killing of bears, with many bears being shot several times,” Martyn Day, then a Scottish National Party member of Parliament, said at the time. “It seems undeniable, therefore, that by continuing to purchase hats made from the fur of black bears the MOD is funding the suffering of bears in Canada by making the baiting and killing of those animals and the sale of their pelts a profitable pursuit for the hunters.”

Day said a poll at the time found 75% of the UK population found real bearskins were a bad use of taxpayer money and supported replacing the hats.

He noted that the late Queen Elizabeth II had ceased buying fur for her wardrobe.

Earlier this year, Queen Camilla, wife of King Charles III, pledged to buy no more fur products.



Elitist No More, Caviar is Turning Casual

Many caviar producers are embracing the trend. GEORGES GOBET / AFP
Many caviar producers are embracing the trend. GEORGES GOBET / AFP
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Elitist No More, Caviar is Turning Casual

Many caviar producers are embracing the trend. GEORGES GOBET / AFP
Many caviar producers are embracing the trend. GEORGES GOBET / AFP

When Burger King announced it was selling caviar with nuggets at its French restaurants on April 1, many people assumed it was an April Fool's joke.

But as news spread on social media, buyers rushed to try one of the world's most expensive delicacies paired with a humble and highly commoditized piece of deep-fried chicken while limited stocks lasted, said AFP.

For 19 euros ($22), they got seven nuggets, mayonnaise and a 10-gram (0.35-ounce) pouch of Chinese-origin caviar from the Astana brand, which explained it had worked with the fast-food giant to "make the caviar of chefs available to as many people as possible".

It was a marketing coup -- the story quickly went viral after being picked up by French news outlets -- but it also revealed how the image of caviar as an out-of-reach luxury product is rapidly changing.

As with most new food trends, interest in the exclusive fish eggs is being driven by online influencers and celebrities.

Rihanna posted a video to her 150 million followers on Instagram on December 20 last year showing her eating nuggets topped with caviar.

"I don't like how much I like this," she began.

US celebrity chef David Chang is also a champion, with a 2022 Instagram video showing him dunking a deep-fried chicken leg into a one-kilogram tin of caviar -- "one of my favorite most obscene things to do" -- which racked up more than three million views.

He credits New York chef Wylie Dufresne with first adding it to the menu at his influential WD~50 restaurant in the 2010s.

Last year, the US Open tennis tournament caused a stir by selling a $100 box of six nuggets with caviar created by the luxury Manhattan fried chicken restaurant Coqodaq.

'Less formal'

Producers and food writers have mixed feelings about the popularization of the culinary indulgence, which sells for 1,000 to 30,000 euros a kilogram depending on the type.

The high prices are due to rarity and the high investment producers make in the sturgeon fish needed for caviar, which start to produce eggs only after eight or 10 years.

The most expensive caviar -- the one famously preferred by Hollywood star Elizabeth Taylor -- is the roe of the beluga sturgeon, which takes at least 15 years to mature.

Mikael Petrossian, head of the French brand Petrossian, said there was a "demystification" of caviar underway.

"Caviar doesn't necessarily have to come in a large tin with silver serving pieces... You can enjoy the product in a much more relaxed way," he said. "I personally like eating caviar with crisps."

The founder of French caviar producer Neuvic, Laurent Deverlanges, says his company also aims to make it "less formal".

He posted a review of the "King Nugget Caviar" menu online, concluding that "it works, even if you can't really taste the caviar much".

But Olivier Cabarrot, the head of the France-based Prunier brand whose caviar restaurant is one of the most famous in the world, pushes back on the idea of it becoming a regular product.

"In terms of gastronomy, there is nothing as expensive. It's hard to talk about it becoming 'democratised'," he said. "But we can speak of greater accessibility, achieved through the sale of smaller quantities rather than lower prices."

Many distributors including Petrossian and Prunier offer tins of 10, 20 or 30 grams, helping to attract a younger clientele.

Dreamy

Remi Dechambre, a food journalist at Le Parisien newspaper, said people associated caviar with opulence and refinement less and less.

"We've completely moved on from that... Consumption has become a little more common, a little less formal -- even though it still makes people dream," he told AFP.

But knowing how to enjoy the product properly remains essential, said Francoise Boisseaud, managing director of the supplier Le Comptoir du Caviar.

"There's a whole education to be done," she said about the different types -- baeri, oscietre, sevruga or beluga .

For her, the best way to enjoy it is with a crusty baguette and butter, not with fried chicken or crisps.

Robin Panfili, a food journalist who runs the food blog "Entree, Plat, Dessert", said Burger King had pulled off a "marketing trick".

"By trying to bring together two worlds that are completely opposed -- luxury and fast food -- the aim is to shake up the codes, to demystify a product historically seen as luxurious and elitist. It's visual, it's viral, it sparks discussion because it's provocative," he told AFP.