London, October 15: More than 1,000 Paddington bears and other teddies left in tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II in London and Windsor will be donated to a children’s charity, Buckingham Palace said Saturday.
Mourners left thousands of tributes, including flowers and teddy bears, outside Buckingham Palace and in royal parks in London and outside Windsor Castle in an outpouring of grief after the U.K.’s longest-reigning monarch died on Sept. 8 at age 96.
The queen became linked to Paddington bear, another British national treasure, after the two appeared together in a short comedy video during Platinum Jubilee celebrations earlier this year to mark the monarch’s 70 years on the throne.
The video, which featured the queen taking afternoon tea with a computer-animated Paddington bear, saw her telling the bear that she shared his love for marmalade sandwiches – and that she liked to hide them in her purse “for later.”
