Please look after these bears!
HE came from darkest Peru via Buckingham Palace and now Paddington Bear has found a new home – courtesy of the Queen Consort.
Camilla was treated to a teddy bears’ picnic as she handed out Paddington toys to nursery children in east London.
The teddies were among the thousands of toys well-wishers left outside royal residences following the death of Queen Elizabeth in September. After being collected and washed by royal staff, the teddies enjoyed a brief stay at Buckingham Palace but are now being rehomed via the Barnardo’s charity.
Yesterday the Queen Consort, who is patron of the charity, took the first batch of bears to
Bow Nursery. They set off from Clarence House in three black cabs provided by the London Taxi Drivers’ Charity for Children, of which Camilla is also patron.
As they arrived, her equerry Captain Edward Andersen followed her inside, carrying a hamper full of Paddingtons. Around their necks were labels which – in recognition of the famous note Paddington wore when he arrived in London – read: ‘Please look after this bear.’ They were signed Camilla R.
As the Queen Consort handed out the bears, she was rewarded with a hug from one toddler and a crown from another. She then met actor Hugh Bonneville, who played Mr
Brown in the Paddington films, for a teddy bears’ picnic of marmalade sandwiches. He also read Michael Bond’s 1976 book Paddington Takes A Bath to the children, which was picked by the Queen Consort to reflect the fact that all the bears had been cleaned.
Bonneville, 59, said: ‘I think all the children here who receive one of these bears may not quite get the impact of it now but to have that by your bed in the years to come will be quite special. So thank you to all the thousands of people who left them as tributes.’
Asked what Paddington would make of it, Bonneville added: ‘He would just be honoured that his namesake and his likeness is being commemorated in this way and bringing pleasure to so many more children.’