Buckingham Palace announced that new outfits for Queen Elizabeth II will no longer contain real animal fur.
The announcement from the royal palace comes after the queen’s senior dresser, Angela Kelly, revealed in her new memoir The Other Side Of The Coin: The Queen, The Dresser And The Wardrobe that from now on Queen Elizabeth will opt instead to wear fake fur as attitudes toward the garments have shifted in light of animal activism.
“If Her Majesty is due to attend an engagement in particularly cold weather, from 2019 onwards, fake fur will be used to make sure she stays warm,” Kelly wrote.
A spokesman from Buckingham Palace confirmed the report and said that “as new outfits are designed for the Queen, any fur used will be fake.”
Despite the change, old garments that contain real fur will continue to remain in her wardrobe.
Claire Bass, executive director of Humane Society International, praised the decision and said she was “thrilled” to hear the news.
“Queen Elizabeth’s decision to ‘go faux’ is the perfect reflection of the mood of the British public, the vast majority of whom detest cruel fur, and want nothing to do with it,” Bass said. “Our Head of State going fur-free sends a powerful message that fur is firmly out of fashion and does not belong with Brand Britain.”
The United Kingdom was the first country to outlaw fur farming on ethical grounds, although it still allows shipments of fur from other countries.
