Environmental concerns, and concerns about the ethics of wearing fur, are nothing new. They're not even new to the Royal Family. King Edward III explicitly banned all Royals present and future from wearing fur by way of royal decree as long ago as the 12th Century, and his declaration has never formally been removed or overturned.
It is, however, periodically ignored. Within the past five years alone, both the Duchess of Cornwall and the Queen herself have been seen wearing hats made of fox fur. It seems unlikely that neither of them would be unaware of the royal decree, so it might be the case that they now feel that this is a law so old that they can simply ignore it. They do come in for criticism from animal rights activists every time they do it, though, and so for the sake of a quiet life it might be better for them if they just go back to playing by the rules.
To insure one’s house, one’s car or to underwrite a life insurance policy, that is common practice. But who would pay an insurance premium for his/her thumb, legs or smile? Stars, of course.
At the top of the ranking are the legs of Mariah Carey, worth 810 million USD: The diva became, in 2006, the Gillette brand muse for the advertising campaign «Legs of a Goddess». She then took out an insurance policy with London Lloyds to protect her legs, a decision that is far from being insignificant. Among its customers, the London insurer then included several icons of music, such as Bob Dylan or Rod Stewart.
David Beckham’s body insured for 195 million USD: European champion with Manchester United in 1999, David Beckham was in 2006 the most renowned footballer of the planet. In relation to his sporting activities, he took out an insurance cover for his legs. The huge amount paid for his insurance would reportedly exceed the 103 million USD disbursed by Real Madrid for the cover of Christiano Ronaldo in 2009. The fashion model would later extend his insurance cover to his entire body.
15 million USD in insurance for Kim Kardashian’s curves: The curves of Kim Kardashian are her number one beauty asset. The reality TV star, who is crazy about plastic surgery, has underwritten an insurance policy worth 15 million USD to protect her famous butt.
The culinary critic Egon Ronay assured his taste buds: The famous Hungarian culinary critic has insured his taste buds since 1957, for the amount of 400 000 USD. An original insurance policy which allows him to cover his sense of taste without which he will no longer be able to practice his job.