Brits Pelt Royals Over Fur Hats

Fur flew yesterday as British animal lovers slammed the queen and Camilla Parker Bowles for their "ostentatious cruelty" in wearing fox fur hats to a Christmas Day church service. "To parade fur in 2010 says something unpleasant about the person wearing it," said the director of Animal Aid. The queen's office wouldn't confirm she was wearing a fox fur hat and matching coat cuffs. Camilla's Cossack-style hat was made by designer Philip Treacy, using a piece of "vintage fur" which had belonged to her mother, reports the Daily Mail.

"Recycling" fur doesn't make its use any better, said the Animal Aid spokesman. "It doesn’t matter when the animal was killed. It's a body part and a product of cruelty," he said. Britain is a "nation of animal lovers, and more than 90% of Britons refuse to wear fur," said a PETA spokeswoman. "We hope that her majesty will choose to wear something more humane in the the future, that better reflects the values of the British people." (More Camilla Parker Bowles stories.)