‘It has been such an honour’: Ironbridge teddy firm proud to make Queen’s Winnie-the-Pooh gift for US trip

A Telford toy company - and the last manufacturer of teddy bears in the UK - said it was “an honour” to have been asked to re-create a lost soft toy for the Queen to present as a gift while in the US.

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Queen Camilla will give a specially made Roo from Winnie-the-Pooh to the New York Public Library during today’s state visit (April 29) to complete a set of the beloved characters in one of the institution’s collections.

The library is home to teddy bears which belonged to Christopher Robin, son of Winnie-the-Pooh creator A A Milne, and which are believed to have inspired the stories first published a century ago in 1926.

Roo had originally been in the stuffed toy collection in the Sussex home of Milne, but it went missing before the collection went on tour in the US in 1947.

The entire collection became permanent exhibits at the New York Library in 1987 and includes Winnie, Tigger, Piglet, Kanga and Eeyore - but the original baby kangaroo toy was lost in an apple orchard in the 1930s.

Ahead of the royal visit the palace approached Merrythought, based in Ironbridge, to provide a specially made Roo for the Queen to give to the library to complete the set of the beloved characters in the institution’s collections.

Merrythought has been hand-crafting traditional teddy bears in Ironbridge since 1930 and owned the firm that made the original.

Ahead of the King and Queen’s state visit to the United States this week, they were asked to create the unique gift for Her Majesty to present to the library.

Its design is based on a Roo made by Farnell - a brand owned by Merrythought - that was made in the early 1920s and is believed to be the same product as Christopher Robin’s own Roo.

It was recreated using the original illustrations found in the archives at the Ironbridge factory, and was sent to Buckingham Palace ahead of the trip to join Camilla on the royal plane to make the transatlantic journey.

Merrythought managing director Sarah Holmes said it had been an honour to have been asked.

"It has been such an honour for the team at Merrythought to be part of this project, reuniting Roo with Kanga and completing this missing piece of Winnie-the-Pooh’s history," she said.

Roo is set to be handed over to the Polonsky Exhibition of The New York Public Library’s Treasures at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, where they are displayed free and permanently to the public.

The gift underscores the enduring cultural and literary ties between the United Kingdom and the United States, and the shared legacy of a story that has captivated readers on both sides of the Atlantic for nearly a century.

Anthony W. Marx, president and CEO of The New York Public Library, said: “People from all over the world visit every year to meet the real Winnie-the-Pooh and friends, which are on free and permanent display for all to see in the Library’s Polonsky Exhibition.

“On behalf of the library and our millions of visitors, we thank Her Majesty Queen Camilla and welcome Roo to New York City. Roo will help us continue to share the wonder and magic of this timeless story with readers of all ages for generations to come.”

Merrythought’s relationship with the monarchy dates back to 1952, when one of its handmade toys was presented to Queen Elizabeth II, and the company has since created bears for successive royal generations and major royal milestones.

Merrythought also produces a replica of Christopher Robin’s childhood teddy bear, Edward, who inspired the original Winnie-the-Pooh book.

Although Christopher named his new companion ‘Edward’, following a trip to London Zoo, the young boy allegedly chose to rename his beloved bear after the resident Canadian black bear ‘Winnepeg’ - adopting the name ‘Winnie’ - and the story was born.