Paddington Bear tributes to Queen Elizabeth to go to charity By Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) – Greater than 1,000 Paddingtons and different teddy bears left by well-wishers as a tribute to Queen Elizabeth after her loss of life final month, will probably be handed over to a kids’s charity, Buckingham Palace mentioned on Saturday.

The cuddly toys have been amongst an enormous variety of floral tributes and messages which have been left exterior palaces and royal parks in London and Windsor within the days of mourning following Elizabeth’s loss of life on the age of 96 on Sept. 8.

They’ll now be professionally cleaned earlier than being handed to the Barnardo’s charity.

“Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was Barnardo’s Patron for over 30 years, and we’re honoured to have the ability to give houses to the teddies that folks left in her reminiscence,” Barnardo Chief Govt Lynn Perry mentioned.

“We promise to take care of these bears who will probably be well-loved and produce pleasure to the kids we help.”

In June, the late monarch appeared in a video having tea with the kids’s literary character Paddington which grew to become one of many highlights of 4 days of celebrations to mark her seventieth 12 months on the throne.

In the course of the comedian sketch, she advised Paddington she all the time stored the character’s favorite – a marmalade sandwich – in her ever-present purse.

As the general public mourned her loss of life, the Royal Parks requested individuals to not go away Paddington bears and marmalade sandwiches as a result of so many individuals had introduced them.

Prince William, her grandson and now the inheritor to the throne, admitted he had turn out to be “choked up” after seeing the Paddington tributes.

To mark the announcement of its plans, Buckingham Palace has launched an image of Queen Camilla, spouse of King Charles, with a number of the Paddingtons.