After the death of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8, tens of thousands of Britons had placed bouquets of flowers, candles, messages and objects in front of the gates of the royal residences of London, Windsor and Balmoral. Among these objects, teddy bears and above all, hundreds of Paddington bear stuffed animals. With his iconic red hat and blue coat, the clumsy bear has been a cult figure in the UK since the 1950s.
But while the flowers placed in front of the royal residences or in the spaces provided in various parks in the capital were collected at the end of September to be composted, the fate of the stuffed animals and other objects remained uncertain. They have been collected pending a decision on their future.
The suspense was lifted on Saturday: these stuffed animals will be “given to works dedicated to the children of the association Barnardo’s
“, Buckingham Palace said. The queen was the godmother of this Charity association until 2016 when Camilla, then Duchess of Cornwall and now Queen Consort, succeeded him.
“We promise to take care of these bears who will be much loved and bring joy to the children we help”said Lynn Perry, the head of the Barnardo’s association.
For her platinum jubilee celebrating her 70 years of reign last June, Queen Elizabeth II had reserved a surprise for her subjects by filming a humorous video in which she co-starred with the famous Paddington Bear. The video, which immediately went viral, remained as one of the rare joyful moments of a jubilee that mostly resembled farewells.