Prince William and Kate Arrive to L.A. to a PETA Protester and Screaming Fans

Prince William and Kate started their CA tour without a hitch according to news sources, but that wasn't so.  The very famous couple got their welcome not only from screaming fans of all ages but also a PETA protester who was dressed as a bear. 

PETA had a bone to pick with Prince William since he completely ignored their request not to wear the traditional military hat made of bearskin at the Trooping the Colour celebrations.  It has been a long-standing tradition for the British army to celebrate the sovereign and their queen's birthday by marching in their traditional uniform of a long red coat and tall furry hat.  

According to PETA, it takes a full bears hide to be able to complete these festive army hats since bearskin is often thickest at the ridge of the bears back, requiring the whole hide for the hats.  PETA sent a letter to Prince William explaining the horror the poor bears have to go through to be able to be captured for their fur.  

Here is an excerpt from the letter sent to Prince William:

"Tourists and Londoners alike are horrified when they learn that it can take a bear’s entire hide to make a single Guards’ cap. Video footage shows how bears are killed for their hides. Some mother bears, lured to a bait site, are seen being shot several times, their still-nursing and dependent cubs orphaned outright. Others are ensnared, sometimes for days, in painful steel traps."


PETA had even gotten famed fashion designer Stella McCartney on their side, she designed a faux-skin hat that looks just as real as the original.  The hat even passed the Ministry of Defense water test but it was still not adopted as the new animal friendly hat.  

Since PETA had such a hard time getting the royal couple to go with any of their pleas, (PETA also asked Prince William and Kate during their Canadian trip not to go to the Calgary Stampede where 6 horses died last year), the creative organization took matters into their own hands.  PETA recruited one of their protesters to dress as a bear and hold up a huge sign that read "BEARSKINS ARE FOR BEARS, NOT GUARDS." as the royal couple drove by and arrived at their first event with Variety.


There was no reaction from Prince William or Kate who drove by without looking twice and got off their vehicle just a few yards away as if nothing had occurred.  They greeted the president of Variety and promptly went inside.

(More candid shots of Prince William and Kate CA arrival after the jump...)




Although the couple had announced they would not be making any friendly stops like they did in Canada, many of their U.S. fans and foreign fans who flew in especially to see them, were greatly disappointed not to even get a wave from the famous duo.  Many fans felt jipped by the royals since their Canadian fans got so much attention and their USA fans got none.  

During the rest of their CA trip, the royals did not stop and greet any commoner citizens who waited hours upon hours just to get a small glimpse. 


Perhaps the next trip will be more citizen friendly and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will have more time for their non-Canadian fans. 

During their whirlwind tour in CA the royals gained a lot of famous fans, but in the process they might have lost hundreds more.  After all, Angelenos felt they paid out of their own taxes to have the royals be taken care of by our vast police force, why couldn't they have found time once to greet their normal fans.  

It was reported that at the BAFTA awards the royals greeted fans who waited for them, but that group had been hand-picked and selected to be in the area they were in.  They were not part of the hoards of fans who waited patiently outside of the event to be able to greet the now most famous royal couple. 

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