A bold fashion royal announcement was made on Wednesday morning. Queen Camilla has made a fashion pledge and it has been met with great support from the fashion world. King Charles' wife has pledged to buy no new fur products for her wardrobe, and this has been confirmed by animal rights group PETA.
Buckingham Palace sent the organisation Camilla's “warmest wishes” as it confirmed her stance on the issue. Camilla, 76, is following in the footsteps of her mother-in-law, the late Queen, who switched to faux fur for new outfits from 2019.
Peta founder Ingrid Newkirk said: “Peta is toasting Queen Camilla with a glass of the finest claret for being a true queen by standing with the 95% of British people who also refuse to wear animal fur, as polls show."
She added: "It’s right and proper for the British monarchy to reflect British values by recognising that fur has no place in our society – and it makes the MoD’s (Ministry of Defence) use of real bear fur for the royal guards’ caps ever more preposterous and out of touch.”
Peta has been campaigning for the MoD to end the use of bearskin for the King’s Guards’ caps for more than two decades.
The letter, which was dated April 15, typed on Buckingham Palace-headed notepaper and from the head of royal correspondence, read: “In response to your query, I can confirm that Her Majesty will not procure any new fur garments.” It added: “This comes with the Queen’s warmest wishes.”
Keeping in with caring for the environment, the coronation roll - a handwritten record of the King and Queen’s crowning - was the first to use paper, not the usual animal skin, reflecting Charles’s animal welfare views. However, both the King and Queen wore fur at the coronation, with ermine capes on their robes and historic crowns trimmed in ermine. Charles opted for his grandfather George VI’s robes, while Camilla wore Elizabeth II’s Robe of State and a newly made Robe of Estate with ermine believed to have been reused from a past robe.
Camilla was criticised by the group in 2009 after she was spotted wearing a rabbit fur stole during a tour to Canada. This big change is a great one for Camilla and wonderful she is on board.