Who knew that a friendly, charismatic and polite bear from Darkest Peru would bring so much joy not just to children all over the world but you have been a part of our lives. It was 64 years today when Paddington Bear first appeared in a book A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond.
Every time we’re at Paddington Train Station, we would always take the time to visit Paddington’s statue near Platform 1.
And just recently, I was there, this time with my friend, Mr. Darcy.
Do you remember when there was a Paddington Trail towards the end of 2014? We were determined to find the 50 Paddington Bears all over London. That was quite a feat and we did find all of them! Here are just nine of them …
When Mum wanted to design a range of dog coats under the label Darcy & George, one of them was going to be Paddingston’s duffle coat.
Mum never managed to launch the brand but she got the best samples made for Darcy.
We even got to watch both the Paddington films at special dog-screenings in Picturehouse Cinemas. And recently, he delighted us when he had tea with the Queen during her Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
This sketch reminded us that while the Queen took her job seriously, she was also fun and she didn’t take herself too seriously.
So when we heard of the Queen’s passing, Mum couldn’t help but imagined that Darcy dressed in her Paddington duffle coat would greet Her Majesty and walk with her through the Pearly Gates.
Thank you for being so much a part of our lives and we have created memories together because of you.
May’s comment: Paddington Bear first appeared on 13 October 1958 in the children’s book A Bear Called Paddington written by Michael Bond. Paddington had gone on to become one of the most loved children’s book characters. And in recent years, the two Paddington movies and his recent sketch with the Queen had endeared us even more.
Darcy was my own bear and the Paddington duffle was one of my favourites.
