Joss Stone - photographer Pal Hansen

Joss Stone - photographer Pal Hansen

Soul Singer Implores Ministry of Defence to Have a Heart and Stop Killing Bears for The Queen's Guards' Caps

She may have played the fourth wife of Henry VIII on the hit TV series The Tudors, but there's one British tradition that gives actor and award-winning soul singer Joss Stone a royal pain – the bearskin hats worn by The Queen's Guards. That's why Stone was eager to appear in a brand new ad for PETA – the ad features the star holding a teddy bear that covers her naked body and reads, "Bear Hugs, Not Bear Caps". The ad was shot by ace photographer Pal Hansen against the patriotic background of a Union Jack. Stone – who achieved almost instant fame after the release of her 2003 multi-platinum debut album, The Soul Sessions – is the latest celebrity to join PETA's campaign to persuade the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to stop killing Canadian black bears for The Queen's Guards' caps and to opt to use faux-fur materials instead.

"Too many people at the Ministry of Defence are dragging their heels on this issue, and I feel like more needs to be done to stop the murder", says Stone. "It's time for the Ministry of Defence to finally make the switch and go fur-free, and I hope that the ad I have created with PETA helps raise awareness and puts a stop to this unnecessary killing."

It can take the entire hide of one bear to make just one bearskin cap. Many of the bears are shot several times, and some escape and die slowly from blood loss, gangrene, starvation or dehydration. When mother bears are killed, orphaned cubs are left behind to starve.

Stone joins many other celebrities – including Pamela Anderson, Lucy Davis, Morrissey, Julian Clary, Sadie Frost, Mary McCartney, Sir Roger Moore, Twiggy, Jilly Cooper, Hayley Mills, Kate Ford and Amanda Holden – who have condemned the slaughter of bears for The Queen's Guards' ceremonial caps.


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