Over 1,000 Paddingtons and Teddy Bears left at Royal Residences as tributes to Queen Elizabeth to be donated to Barnardos children’s charity

Buckingham Palace, The Royal Parks and Barnardo’s children’s charity are pleased to announce that over 1,000 Paddingtons and teddy bears left in tribute to Queen Elizabeth outside Royal Residences in London and Windsor will be donated to Barnardo’s children’s services. The teddy bears will all be professionally cleaned and delivered in the coming weeks.

In 2016, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth passed the patronage of Barnardo’s to the then Duchess of Cornwall.

To mark the announcement of the donation, a new photograph has been released of The Queen Consort with some of the hundreds of Paddingtons and teddy bears that will be gifted to the children’s charity.

The teddy bears are currently being well looked after at Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and in the Royal Parks nursery located in Hyde Park.

The photograph was taken in the Morning Room at Clarence House on Thursday 13th October 2022, the 64th anniversary of the publication of the first Paddington bear book.

Thousands of tributes – from flowers to teddy bears – were left outside Royal Residences in London and Windsor following Queen Elizabeth’s death on Thursday 8th September. In central London, many were left at the two official tributes areas in The Green Park and Hyde Park. Later in September, The Royal Parks charity, with the help of Shire horses and almost 200 volunteers, began sensitively clearing the tribute gardens.

The teddy bears collected during this process will join those left as tributes on the Long Walk outside Windsor Castle in being donated to Barnardo’s children’s services. Those involved in the project hope the teddy bears will be much loved for many years to come by children supported by Barnardo’s, whilst understanding the story behind the bears and how they came to be donated.