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Lucy Davis asks PM Andy Burnham to make King's Guard caps fur-free

The Office actress Lucy Davis, 53, who revealed in August she has incurable stage four breast cancer, has written to Prime Minister Andy Burnham asking him to replace real bear fur in King's Guard caps with faux fur "in my lifetime".

2 outlets · 0L · 1C · 1R First reported Account updated
Image: Evening Standard
Image: Daily Mail

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The story, neutrally told

MixedActress Lucy Davis, 53, has sent a letter to Prime Minister Andy Burnham asking him to urgently instruct the Ministry of Defence to replace the real bear fur used for the King's Guard's caps with faux fur. CentreIn the letter she wrote that faux fur has come "an awfully long way" and that the caps' "grandeur and tradition" can be preserved "without costing bears their lives". MixedShe linked the appeal to her illness, writing that being recently diagnosed with incurable cancer has made her think more about the time she has left, and ended: "Please, Prime Minister, won't you make this happen in my lifetime?"

MixedDavis, a long-time ally of animal rights group PETA, announced in August that she has incurable stage four breast cancer that has spread to her bones; she said it was too late for chemotherapy. MixedShe said she is trying to live out what may be left of her life "in as fun a way as I possibly can" and is "at peace" with what comes next. MixedThe Ministry of Defence buys finished caps from capmakers who source bear fur from Canada.

MixedA 2024 PETA video said hunters often bait bears with sweet food and shoot them with high-powered crossbows, a method illegal in the UK, and that many bears are shot several times and some die slowly after escaping. CentreDavis first campaigned with PETA on the issue in 2007, posing naked on a Union Jack holding a teddy bear under the banner "Bare skin, not Bear Skin"; the Evening Standard says Pamela Anderson, Sadie Frost, Dame Jilly Cooper and Amanda Holden also spoke out around that time. RightThe Daily Mail adds that last month Davis completed a hike and a 200ft zipline in Skull Canyon, California, taking pain medication beforehand, as her cancer sometimes leaves her unable to stand or walk for long periods.

CentreDavis is best known as receptionist Dawn Tinsley in The Office and later appeared in Shaun of the Dead and Wonder Woman.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split.

Left0 outlets

No left outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.

Centre1 outlet

Framing
Campaign-focused: leads on the fur appeal and Davis's wish to see change "in her lifetime", with her cancer as context.
Emphasis
The campaign's history, the 2007 PETA advert, other celebrity supporters and the bear-hunting practices.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not cover her recent hike and zipline.
For example
“Lucy Davis throws support behind fur campaign to see change ‘in her lifetime’” — Evening Standard

Right1 outlet

Framing
Personal and emotional: headline calls it a "heartfelt plea" and gives much space to her illness and recent activities.
Emphasis
Her diagnosis, the California hike and zipline, and fans' reaction calling her 'an inspiration'.
Leaves out or plays down
Omits the other celebrities who backed the 2007 campaign and her Union Jack advert details.
Charged language
“heartfelt plea”“incurable cancer”
For example
“makes heartfelt plea to Andy Burnham to make King's Guard caps fur-free in her lifetime after being diagnosed with incurable cancer” — Daily Mail