Queen Camilla found a new home for the first batch of Paddington stuffed animals that members of the public have left in their tributes for the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Her Majesty arrived at Bow day nursery in the morning of Thursday, 24 November, escorted by a fleet of electric cabs whose drivers are part of the Charity for Children, of which she is patron. The vehicles transported baskets full of stuffed Paddington bears from Clarence House and Buckingham Palace to the nursery.
Once she arrived, the Queen Consort immediately started distributing the bears among the children, who couldn’t wait to have a new cuddly friend to hold. One of the children, a young girl dressed in a yellow cardigan, pulled a sneaky move to hug the Queen Consort when she approached her from the other side as she was chatting with a teacher and three of the nursery’s other pupils.
In another sweet moment, the Queen went over to a circle of slightly older children playing with some blue foam and was heard telling them: “What are we doing here? Making a mess? We love a bit of mess.”
It was then time for a picnic with all the children and staff; naturally, the prepared foods included marmalade sandwiches, which also became a symbol of the national grieving in the days following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. One of the children was heard declaring that he didn’t like marmalade, which prompted a smile from the Queen Consort.
Before Queen Camilla left the nursery, Paddington actors Hugh Bonneville and Madeline Harris read “Paddington takes a bath” to the children, who sat cross-legged at their feet. Next to them was Karen Jankel, the daughter of Paddington author Michael Bond and the little child for whom the stories were written in the first place.
As she was leaving, the Queen Consort said it was a pleasure to have found new homes for the stuffed animals and to look after them. In the stories, Paddington bear is an orphan, so for the toys to go to the children of Barnardo’s was more than appropriate.
Bow day nursery is part of the Barnardo’s Charity, of which both Queen Elizabeth and Queen Camilla have been and are patrons. The late monarch held the role from 1983 to 2016, when she handed it down to the then Duchess of Cornwall.
Barnardo’s is the UK’s largest children’s charity, created with the aim of “helping children whenever and wherever they need us, supporting them into adulthood,” says their Twitter bio.
