IN MOST parts of the world, princes wear crowns to denote status as heir to the throne. But in secretive and eccentric North Korea it seems to be more a case of furry hats.

By such details do observers read the political tea leaves in Pyongyang, where Kim Jong-il's designated successor, his portly son Kim Jong-un, has suddenly begun stepping out in the same headgear as his father. According to North Korean defectors, until last month only the Dear Leader was entitled to wear a particular brand of handcrafted otter-fur hat, with earflaps, while his minions had to satisfy themselves with cheaper, mass-produced versions.

''It's an unwritten rule that nobody else can wear such a hat,'' a defector told South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper, after photographs emerged of Mr Kim's 28-year-old son wearing his father's trademark hat.

''If Kim Jong-un is also wearing one, it means he has now reached almost the same status as his father,'' the defector said.

The timing of a succession is unclear, but Kim Jong-un has had a swift rise since September when he was given senior posts in the Communist Party.

Unlike his father, who had nearly 15 years to prepare to take over, the young Jong-un must race to cement his position before his father's death.

The otter-fur hat is not just a badge of rank in North Korea but a bitter necessity in a country enduring its coldest winter for 60 years, raising fears of another failed harvest and deepening discontent among its hungry population.

TELEGRAPH