Camilla, the Queen Consort, visited children yesterday at Barnardo’s Bow nursery in Tower Hamlets to re-home Paddington bears that were left in tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Camilla travelled to the nursery in a car filled with Paddington bears and other cuddly toys. She said it was “a pleasure” to rehome the bears with vulnerable children. They were professionally cleaned before being delivered to the charity and she went to one of their nurseries to see the handover.
We’re on our way @barnardos!
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) November 24, 2022
Thank you to the London Taxi Drivers’ Charity for Children for helping us get there safely. pic.twitter.com/IrFjM4u4EI
She was greeted by the Barnardo’s Chief Executive Lynn Perry and the Chairman of Trustees John Bartlett before being taken around the nursery by team manager Shamima Ahmed.
Camilla became the patronage of Barnardo’s in 2016, when Queen Elizabeth passed the role to her.
Camilla was joined by Hugh Bonneville and Madeleine Harris, who both star in the Paddington franchise, along with Karen Jankel, the daughter of Michael Bond, who wrote the Paddington stories.
Camilla, 75, spoke with the children at a teddy-bears picnic, while sharing marmalade sandwiches beside Bonneville, Harris and Jankel, and 40 children.
Three-year-old Oscar Isherwood shouted “I don’t like marmalade,” while the other children promptly gathered to receive a bear from the Queen Consort.
She later joined a group of children aged two and under around a table, two-year-old Noa Nkemdirim hovered nearby until Camilla gave her a hug.
Camilla told the children to place the tiny boots on their Paddington Bears “otherwise, he won’t be able to go outside”.
Bonneville, who plays Mr Brown in the film, read Bond’s story Paddington Takes a Bath to the children, echoing the way their bears had all needed a clean before arriving at the nursery.
Camilla told the children and their carers: “It has been a pleasure to find a home for these bears – please look after them carefully,” as she stood to depart.
Carer Leighann Ives and three-year-old Serena Wicks presented her with a bouquet and a thank-you note before she left.
Perry told the Queen Consort her visit to the nursery had brought “happiness and joy” to the children at Barnardo’s. She said: “I hope you can see it’s meant the world to the children here today to receive a Paddington Bear.
The Royal Family has donated more than 1,000 Paddington bears left outside Buckingham Palace in tribute to the late Queen.
Jankel, 64, whose father died aged 91 in 2017, said the Paddington author would have been “completely overwhelmed” by the Queen’s connection with his books.
The connection between the late Queen and Paddington has been commemorated by mourners, since the sketch played during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebratory weekend, where Paddington visited Buckingham Palace for afternoon tea.
