Camilla plays Pooh sticks and hails Winnie-the-Pooh as ‘universal hero’
Camilla visited Ashdown Forest to celebrate 100 years of Winnie-the-Pooh
The Queen has paid tribute to Winnie-the-Pooh as a “universal hero” as she tried her hand at Pooh sticks in the woodland that inspired Hundred Acre Wood.
Camilla said it was “very nice to be back in Sussex” as she visited Ashdown Forest to celebrate 100 years since the first much-loved children’s books of Winnie-the-Pooh were published in 1926.
On her first visit as patron of the Royal Literary Fund (RLF), she played Pooh sticks with children’s authors, competition winners and local children, and unveiled an all-weather walking trail named Queen’s Walk.
She told attendees that she spent “a lot of time as a child” playing Pooh sticks.
“Winnie-the-Pooh is a universal hero, people love him and his friends all over the world,” she said.
“They’ll come pouring in to see this new trail.
“A lovely experience for all and especially children.”
The woodland is near the former home of author AA Milne who gained inspiration for the books’ magical setting after walks through the forest with his son, Christopher Robin.
The pair played “pooh sticks” and in their honour, the Queen played three games with children’s authors including author and illustrator of The Gruffalo, Dame Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, an author of the official Winnie-the-Pooh sequels Jane Riordan.
As the competitors peered over the edge of “Poohsticks Bridge”, Camilla said: “Mine’s still going strong” as she came runner up.
Esme Coulter, 17, who came joint third playing Pooh sticks with the Queen after winning her poetry competition, said: “It’s been amazing, definitely not something I ever would have expected from winning a poetry competition.”
Speaking ahead of the game with Camilla, Dame Julia told Press Association: “It’s good fun, I have been here before, the river was so clogged up with sticks we couldn’t play Pooh sticks.
“It’s great to have a head of state keen on books and reading.”
The celebrity authors had also been asked to bring their childhood teddy bears but Dame Julia brought along a hand knitted Gruffalo given to her by a child at a book signing.
Authors Sita Brahmachari and Cerrie Burnell also took part in the race introduced by broadcaster Gyles Brandreth, sporting a red Winnie-the-Pooh jumper, who told the story of Winnie-the-Pooh and how Pooh sticks came to be.
The sticks used in the game were collected from Buckingham Palace and the Queen’s residence Ray Mill in Wiltshire.
A family of four who came to Ashdown Forest for a three-day holiday got “really excited” after stumbling upon the event on the first morning of their visit.
“We are big fans of Julia we got very excited when we spotted her coming out of the car,” mum Fiona Gold said.
The family from Radley, near Oxford, had come to the woodland ready with Pooh sticks before finding out about the event and decided to “sit very quietly” to watch the spectacle.
Elsewhere the Queen met local school children and Ashdown Forest staff and volunteers as she officially opened the walking trail at the memorial site to Milne and Winnie-the-Pooh original illustrator EH Shepard.
The site is located at The Enchanted Place where Christopher Robin says goodbye to the animals in the books.
Ashdown Forest chief executive Mark Pearson said it was an honour to welcome the Queen to the landscape that “inspired generations through these beloved books” and brings a “little bit of magic to us all”.
The RLF is the world’s oldest literary charity which helps professional writers in financial difficulty.
Since 1972, £91 million has been generated from Milne’s estate towards the charity to contribute to authors’ grants, education and outreach programmes
The rights of Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh books were left to his family, the RLF and other organisations.