In a fitting tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II, all the Paddington Bears and other teddy bears left outside Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle will be donated to the children’s charity Barnardo’s.
Buckingham Palace announced that over 1,000 teddy bears left outside royal residences in the days after Elizabeth II’s death will be cleaned and delivered to their new homes, sharing a photo of Queen Camilla posing at Clarence House with hundreds of the bears in the background.
Queen Camilla became patron of Barnardo’s in 2016 after Queen Elizabeth II passed over the patronage to her after 30 years of holding the role herself.
“Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was Barnardo’s Patron for over 30 years, and we are honoured to be able to gives homes to the teddies that people left in her memory. We promise to look after these bears who will be well-loved and bring joy to the children we support,” said Lynn Perry, Barnardo’s Chief Executive, in a statement provided by Buckingham Palace.
“We are incredibly grateful to Her Majesty The Queen Consort for her support in helping us to raise awareness of the needs of vulnerable children and young people in the UK so that we can continue to support them through our vital services.”
To coincide with the announcement of this donation, Queen Camilla posed with the Paddingtons on the 64th anniversary of the publication of the first Paddington Bear book, in the Morning Room at Clarence House on 13 October.
The teddy bears will all be professionally cleaned in the coming weeks before being delivered to Barnardo’s. Until the bears are delivered to Barnardo’s, they are being “well looked after” at Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and the Royal Parks nursery in Hyde Park.
Buckingham Palace shared the news on social media with the caption, “?️?Please look after this bear.”
Queen Elizabeth II famously took part in a Platinum Jubilee skit with the bear. The two shared tea and marmalade sandwiches as the Platinum Party at the Palace took place outside, with the bear telling The Queen, “Thank you, for everything.”
