LONDON –
More than 1,000 Paddington bears and other soft toys left in tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II in London and Windsor will be donated to children’s charity, Buckingham Palace announced on Saturday.
Mourners left thousands of tributes, including flowers and teddy bears, outside Buckingham Palace and in London’s royal parks and outside Windsor Castle in a wave of grief after the death of Britain’s longest-serving monarch on September 8 at the age of 96.
The Queen has become linked to Paddington Bear, another British national treasure, after the two appeared together in a short humorous video during Platinum Jubilee celebrations earlier this year to mark the monarch’s 70 years on the throne . The video, which showed the Queen having afternoon tea with a computer-animated Paddington Bear, saw her telling the bear that she shared her love for marmalade sandwiches – and loved them. hide in her purse “for later”.
Buckingham Palace and Royal Parks said on Saturday that the hundreds of bears left in tribute to the Queen will be professionally cleaned before being delivered to Barnado’s, a children’s charity.
Elizabeth was patron of the charity for over 30 years and in 2016 passed the patronage to Camilla, the wife of King Charles III and now known as the Queen Consort.
“We are honored to be able to give homes to the teddy bears that people have left in his memory,” said Lynn Perry, Barnardo’s General Manager. “We promise to take care of these bears who will be well loved and bring joy to the children we support.”