He starred with the Queen, now Paddington gets set for film 3

PADDINGTON Bear played a small role at the heart of the nation’s farewell to the Queen this week, with stuffed toys (and marmalade sandwiches) being left at the Royal Parks; and the BBC screening Paddington 2 on Monday.

And the loveable little bear — who got his first outing in 1958 — will return. The next instalment, Paddington In Peru, will start filming in London — and Peru — in 2023.

I hear that the usual suspects are all on board: Ben Whishaw as the bear, Hugh Bonneville and Sally Hawkins as Mr and Mrs Brown, Julie Walters as Mrs Bird and Jim Broadbent as Mr Gruber. However they haven’t been sent scripts yet.

Details are shrouded in secrecy, though it has been written by Paul King, who directed the first two films.

This time it will be new director Dougal Wilson tugging at our heartstrings (his previous work includes some of the John Lewis Christmas ads).

Michael Bond, author of the Paddington books, did send his bear back to

Darkest Peru — in 1964, when he took a trip to celebrate his Great Aunt Lucy’s 100th birthday (an event that featured in Paddington 2).

On his way home, by boat, Paddington dreams he’s being chased by a giant biscuit and has to seek refuge with the ship’s

doctor. Whatever the film’s story, the South American setting will offer the chance to see Paddington — a fish out of water in London — as a fish out of water back home in Peru, too.

And there’s talk of an extended family of bear cousins for us all to get to know.

A spokesman for Studio Canal said it was too early to share any official news of Paddington 3.