Queen's guards could soon be wearing possum

15 March 2003

It's a novel use for road-kill. Southlander Jonny Hazlett yesterday contacted the Queen's secretary and his London agent with a hairy proposal.

Replace the Queen's guards' bearskin hats – made from the coats of Canadian brown bears – with true blue southern possum from a tannery at Thornbury, near Invercargill.

The British Army's Coldstream Guards' "busby" hats have come under fire from animal welfare groups over the past few years and sparked a global search for a synthetic replacement.

Tourists have flocked to see the iconic hats since the Napoleonic wars and in 1997 Britain's Ministry of Defence launched a so far unsuccessful search for an alternative.

Slinkskins general manager Jonny Hazlett reckons New Zealand's trash could be Britain's treasure. "We're going to give it a go. Possum could be it!"

Southland's environmentally friendly fur, from pest possums trapped in the name of conservation, was already gracing catwalks in Germany and Italy and it was worth making some calls to England, Mr Hazlett said today.

Previous attempts by the Defence Force to use synthetic replacements had resulted in "frizzed up hats" and embarrassing situations when static electricity caused the guards' hats to stand on end when they walked under powerlines.

Mr Hazlett said possum fur might not hold up "too well" in wet weather but should be looked at as a very real alternative.

"I don't know if you've ever seen a possum after a rain storm – they look like drowned rats or like they do on the road, but we're still keen to get in touch with them, and give it a go."