Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of replacing ceremonial caps made from the skins of bears with ceremonial caps made using faux fur.

There is currently no faux fur alternative that meets the required standard for the Queen’s Guards ceremonial caps. Bears are never hunted to order for use by the Ministry of Defence. Our suppliers source pelts made available by the Canadian authorities following a licensed cull as part of a programme to manage the wild bear population; Provincial, territorial, federal and international laws provide strict trade regulations to protect against unlawful trade in black bears both within Canada and internationally.