Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and Paddington Bear
Image: BBC (2022)
I.
When it comes to animals and royalty, the British are a sentimental people.
So it wasn't surprising that a heartwarming TV sketch during the Platinum Jubilee featuring the Queen and Paddington Bear having tea together at Buckingham Palace, should enchant the entire nation [1].
Altogether now, Aahhh ....
II.
Meanwhile, back in the present (and what remains of and passes for the real world), the Queen is dead and as one observes events surrounding her lying-in-state and funeral, one can't help noticing that the royal guardsmen still like to wear red coats and black bearskins [2].
Perhaps if Paddington hadn't been so busy playing the court jester, stuffing his face with marmalade sandwiches and thanking the Queen for everything, he might have found time to speak up on behalf of his Canadian cousins who are still being hunted or trapped and killed in order that British soldiers might look snazzy - this despite the fact that synthetic materials could just as easily be used to make their headgear [3].
But there you go, this fictional South American bear - I think he's supposed to be a spectacled bear from Peru - is, like many other celebrities, only concerned with furthering his own fame and cementing an iconic place within the popular imagination.
As for the Queen, well, apart from the horses and dogs she liked to breed - and game birds she liked to shoot - I'm not sure she had a great deal of interest in creatures great and small.
© PETA
Notes
[1] Readers unfamiliar with the sketch can view it on the Royal Family's very own YouTube channel: click here. I would advise that it's best to do so on an empty stomach.
[2] Members of the following units of the British Army are currently authorised to wear the bearskin hat with their full dress:
Grenadier Guards,
Coldstream Guards,
Scots Guards,
Irish Guards,
Welsh Guards,
Royal Scots Dragoon Guards,
Honourable Artillery Company,
and the King's Royal Hussars.
Along with these units, officers of fusilier regiments are also authorised to wear the bearskin as part of their ceremonial uniform, as well as members of certain regimental bands.
The standard bearskin is made from the fur of the Canadian black bear; however, an officer's bearskin is made from the fur of the Canadian brown bear,
as the female of the species has thicker, fuller fur. Officers' caps thus have to be dyed black. An entire skin is used to manufacture each hat and the Ministry of Defence authorise the purchase of between 50-100 black bear skins each year, at a cost of c. £650 each.
[3] As a recent petition signed by over 106,000 people made clear, apart from the magical aspects of using animal skins, there really is no excuse for the MoD to continue funding (with tax payers money) the slaughter of bears in order to produce ceremonial headgear, particularly as a waterproof faux fur alternative is available which mimics real bear fur in appearance and performance.
Whilst this topic was debated in Parliament on 11 July of this year, sadly the government's position remains unchanged: there are currently no plans to end the use of bearskins. Readers interested in reading the full response should click here.
