Are Young Royals Like Kate Middleton Turning Their Backs on Real Fur?

Kate Middleton and Prince William are currently on their first-ever trip to Sweden, which they of course began with meeting their hosts and local counterparts, Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel. So far since arriving, they’ve gotten lunch with the latter’s Royal parents, visited Stockholm’s Nobel Museum, and even ended up on the ice, where Middleton and her husband faced off in a game of bandy hockey, aka one of the country’s most popular sports.

Rather than the game results—since you’re undoubtedly wondering, Middleton lost out two to one—or Middleton’s baby bump from a pregnancy that’s five months along, it has been lapels, cuffs, and pom-poms have somehow dominated the news of their visit. That’s because, when Victoria and Kate stepped out together near the museum, onlookers couldn’t help but notice that both happened to be wearing variations of green coats accented with fur, predictably causing outrage.

Now, however, it’s turned out that Middleton’s ensemble was largely fur-free: According to People, she was wearing faux fur cuffs and a faux fur label by the label Troy London—though she was admittedly wearing a “sustainably sourced” Alpaca fur hat. Victoria, was also wearing a coat by the Swedish designer Ida Sjostedt with a faux fur lapel.

The appearance seemed to suggest that the future of monarchies—Victoria will one day be queen, and Kate will one day be consort—is staying on-trend, shifting away from fur just as brands like Gucci have recently, as part of their continued attempts to “to strive to do better for the environment and animals” and be “socially responsible.” (Since that decision was announced in October, Michael Kors has followed suit, and activists like Pamela Anderson are doing their part to encourage fashion figures like Naomi Campbell to do the same.)

Perhaps because of the excitement at the prospect of such a change, the hat topped off with a pom-pom that Middleton wore on the ice rink also brought quite a bit of backlash, as it bears a significant resemblance to a hat by Eugenia Kim, whose bobble is made of 100 percent Arctic Fox fur. However, it turns out that there’s also a faux fur version of the hat, which seems to be the one that Middleton is wearing; according to the royal correspondent Richard Palmer, Kensington Palace is “adamant” that the hat is topped off with faux fur.

The Palace has yet to release any additional clarifications or statements, but whether or not the two future queens and their fellow royals are transitioning to fur-free, they’ve definitely succeeded in sending Meghan Markle a message: If she’d like to stay in the people’s good graces, she’d better keep things faux.

Related: Gucci Is Going Fur-Free, Starting With Its Spring 2018 Collection