Is Meghan Markle's No Fur Stance Influencing Burberry Talks On Pledging A No Fur Policy?

Meghan Markle wearing traditional Burberry tartan plaid on visit to Edinburgh Scotland.

Anti-fur protesters have made Burberry a recent target of its protests, and the luxury brand is reconsidering its use of fur in the future. 

“On the limited occasions . . . fur has been considered important to design, we have insisted that it is sourced from authorised, regularly inspected suppliers operating to high ethical standards,” the fashion house said. “There wasn’t any real fur in Burberry’s September 2017 or February 2018 runway collections. We can confirm that we are currently reviewing our use of real fur.”

The timing is perfect, given two other British events that could impact the use the fur in Britain.

Parliament will debate a UK-wide fur trade ban next month, following a petition by Brian May, the #FurFreeBritain coalition and the Humane Society, which reached 425,834 signatures. Once the threshold is met, all similar petitions must be debated in Parliament.

Consider that the 2017 petition demanding that Donald Trump not come to Britain on an official state visit garnered over 1.25m signatures.  The petition didn't ban Trump from the country, just from an official state visit. It was announced on April 26, 2018 that Trump will visit the UK on Friday, July 13, after a meeting of Nato leaders in Brussels.

Another American garnering far more positive enthusiasm than Trump among the British people is Meghan Markle, soon to marry Prince Harry.  The Humane Society's executive director Claire Bass believes that style-influencer Markle is instrumental in Burberry's decision. 

“Burberry is famous for being a royal fashion favourite so Meghan Markle, who is well-known for disliking fur, joining the family is sure to have made the quintessentially British brand look twice at its fur policy. Ditching fur would be the perfect fit for this brand-Britain fashion powerhouse so we strongly urge Burberry to embrace the compassionate trend.”

Markle's anti-fur stance is well known, and fashion blogs report that one of her favorite staples is a pair of vegan leather pants. A quick Google search doesn't place Markle in contact with Olivia Firth, but surely their interests and goals are united around this topic.