It feels as dramatic as the ravens leaving the Tower of London – somehow, someone other than Paddington has just sent King Charles some marmalade for his sandwiches.
The interloper in the legendary love affair between the Royal Family and the bear from Peru is none other than the mayor of Seville and he’s quoting all kinds of regal history in his bid to be the main marmalade provider for the palace.
The orange trees of Seville are among the most celebrated in the world. The oldest tree at the Alcazar is said to have been planted by King Pedro I, nicknamed the Cruel, in the 14th century while others attribute the celebrated oranges to the work of Carlos V. Both were known for their bravery in battle but the mayor of Seville has gone one better and taken on Paddington.
(Alex Ellis/ X)
Jose Luis Sanz is at an advantage as the Alcazar in Seville has over 1000 prize specimens producing in excess of 40, 000 kilos of oranges every year.
This fruit is highly sought after and a long standing tradition means that among the recipients of these world famous oranges is The King. Charles III has just been offered 80 kilos of the Seville oranges for the express purpose of marmalade making.
The tradition dates back to the start of the 20th century when Queen Victoria’s youngest granddaughter, Victoria Eugenie, married the King of Spain, Alfonso XIII, in a glittering ceremony that had caused huge political issues and ended with an assassination attempt. As part of the plan to develop stronger bonds between the UK and Spain, Seville started to provide its world famous oranges to be made into marmalade for the Monarch’s breakfast table. And that’s why Paddington is feeling the heat right now.
(Public Domain, Wiki Commons)
The practice fell into abeyance but was revived several years ago by Jose Luis Sanz’s predecessor in the job, Manuel del Valle. The oranges were turned into marmalade by Hugh Elliot who was the UK ambassador to Spain. He used his mother’s recipe to create the bitter sweet spread. However, he’s moved on and the ambassador is now Alex Ellis who promised to make the marmalade himself, too.
He also told the mayor of Seville that the Royal Family was very grateful for the gift, making a bad day even worse for Paddington.
The little bear’s association with the Royal Family isn’t quite so long standing but Paddington would argue it’s much more deep rooted, despite its recency.
In June 2022, the bear took part in a now legendary sketch with Queen Elizabeth II to mark her Platinum Jubilee. As tens of thousands gathered for the Party at the Palace, Elizabeth II surprised everyone with an unannounced appearance with Paddington during which her guest drank all her tea before offering her marmalade sandwiches from under his hat. At that point, the longest reigning Monarch in British history answered the longest standing question of her rule by revealing what she kept in her handbag – marmalade sandwiches, of course, which she said were ”for later”.
When Queen Elizabeth II died, just months afterwards, so many people decided to leave marmalade sandwiches for her as tributes among the flowers in the royal parks that a request had to be made for it to stop as they were proving difficult to deal with. However, drawings of Elizabeth II and Paddington continued to be popular ways of remembering the late Queen while thousands of cuddly versions of the bear were also laid as tributes. Queen Camilla had them all gathered up and cleaned and presented them to children’s charities at Christmas 2022.
(Prince and Princess of Wales Twitter)
Paddington later made an appearance as a Christmas tree decoration in royal residences while Hugh Bonnington, who plays Mr Brown in the films, gave a reading from the books about the bear at the 2023 Together at Christmas service at Westminster Abbey, much to the delight of Prince Louis.
However, times move on and it now appears that Paddington’s role as chief marmalade sandwich provider to the Royal Family is well and truly under threat, in the interests of international relations. No doubt he’ll have some kind of plan, he’s just saving it ”for later”.
