Campaigners urge fake fur for palace guards

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Animal rights campaigners were holding a meeting Tuesday with Britain's Ministry of Defence to argue against the use of bearskin in the iconic furry headgear worn by royal guards at Buckingham Palace.

Robbie LeBlanc, European director for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), was meeting with Ann Taylor, the minister for defense equipment and support, the defense ministry said.

"We are hoping that they will switch to a humane synthetic alternative," a PETA spokeswoman said.

PETA has been campaigning for years against the use of bearskin in the headgear, a familiar symbol of London worn by the guards who keep watch over royal buildings like Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle. The hats are part of the footguards' ceremonial dress, along with the bright red jackets.

PETA says the bears used to produce the fur hats are killed cruelly and unnecessarily.

"It's an absolute moral disgrace," said Mike Hancock, a British lawmaker who has joined PETA's campaign against the bearskins. "I don't think the British public or tourists will mind if it's synthetic fur, and I'm absolutely amazed in this day and age that we see beautiful animals skinned and killed" to produce the hats.

A spokesman for the National Army Museum in London, Julian Farrance, said the fur comes only from Canadian bears that have died naturally, and that no bears are killed for the hats.

Campaigners say they still want the defense ministry to use a different material.

"It still promotes the usage of animal fur in areas where it's totally unnecessary, in my view, for fur to be used," said Glenda Jackson, another British lawmaker opposed to the use of the fur.

The British Army's use of the bearskin hats dates back to the Battle of Waterloo on in 1815, when Wellington's army defeated the French Imperial Guard in a victory that marked Napoleon's downfall.

The British soldiers captured the headgear from the defeated Imperial Guardsmen and have worn them ever since, although today the hats are only worn for ceremonial duties.

Those British soldiers were renamed the Grenadier Guards to honor their defeat of the Grenadiers of the French Imperial Guards. The Grenadiers are now among five bearskin-wearing regiments that guard British royal buildings.

But each bearskin hat is heavy and can prove very hot for the wearer.

"There have been occasions where soldiers have suffered from heatstroke, because obviously wearing that much fur on your head ... can get quite warm," Farrance said.

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