Will King Charles Accept Fur-Free Coronation Robes?
Will King Charles Accept Fur-Free Coronation Robes?
London – Following reports that King Charles is looking to modernise his coronation ceremony, including by ditching the ermine fur robes, luxury faux furrier ECOPEL sent a letter (available here) to Buckingham Palace offering to trim the robes with its high-quality, eco- and animal-friendly faux fur, called KOBA, free of charge.
“Just as I followed in my father’s footsteps to become the CEO of ECOPEL, it has been brought to my attention that you may follow your late mother’s excellent example of shunning real fur and, in doing so, may opt for military attire rather than the traditional ermine-trimmed robe for your coronation,” writes ECOPEL CEO Christopher Sarfati. “I would like to offer your majesty a solution that would give a nod to tradition while staying true to 21st century values: allow ECOPEL the honour of working with your outfitters to trim the coronation robes with more sustainable and cruelty-free ‘ermine’ faux fur.”
“The stoats killed for ‘ermine’ are intelligent, inquisitive, gregarious animals who feel pain and fear and don’t want to die,” says PETA Vice President of Programmes Elisa Allen. “PETA stands with ECOPEL in encouraging King Charles to embrace this humane option and keep cruelty out of the coronation ceremony.”
On fur farms, animals are confined to cramped wire cages, denied the opportunity to do anything that’s natural or important to them, and killed by electrocution, neck-breaking, or drowning. Animals are also caught in the wild in steel-jaw traps and left to languish – sometimes for days – before succumbing to dehydration, starvation, disease, or attacks by predators or being bludgeoned to death by returning trappers.
ECOPEL also teamed up with PETA to create a faux fur that is virtually indistinguishable from the bearskin used for the King’s Guard’s caps – and PETA is currently pushing the Ministry of Defence to save bears’ lives and adopt the vegan material, which an independent analysis found was 100% waterproof.
ECOPEL’s KOBA – which made its catwalk debut in eco-friendly fashion pioneer Stella McCartney’s collections – is the world’s first bio-based faux fur, as it’s partially made from corn extracts.
PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA’s website or follow the group on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
Contact:
Jennifer White +44 (0) 20 7837 6327; [email protected]
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