A pink papier maché flamingo, a jam sandwich and a rubber duck in the shape of the Queen are among the items left among the cards and flowers at a tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II in London. Palace officials have restricted access to the gates of Buckingham Palace, instead asking mourners to bring their cards and flowers to a designated location in nearby Green Park. On Sunday, hundreds of people at a time could be seen passing through the gates of the flower garden to add their bouquets and cards to the growing piles criss-crossing the site. Some, however, left more than flowers. Several people had left cards and stuffed animals featuring the children’s book character Paddington Bear. One person even placed a labeled jam sandwich in a ziplock bag next to the toy, in a nod to a video the Queen made with Paddington earlier this year. In this video, which was released in time for the platinum jubilee in June, the Queen and the bear share a messy tea and discuss their shared love of jam sandwiches Mother-daughter pair Lorraine and Angela Payne, from Nuneaton, West Midlands, chose a Paddington Bear card to honor the video, which they said showcased the Queen’s personality and humour. “It was so touching and so wonderful to happen,” said Lorraine Payne, as she and her daughter hung their card on a tree. Many of the flowers were accompanied by children’s drawings, long letters and heartfelt thanks. The Paynes said theirs was a simple message to thank the Queen “for her service to England and the Commonwealth and the world”. Corgi dogs and horses – two of the Queen’s loves – were popular themes among the gifts, as were hand-painted, painted and crocheted likenesses of the late monarch herself. Other items, including a black and white baseball cap, the flamingo and a red paper lantern, had a less clear connection to the royal family. Canadians Kersten and Charlie Samolczyk, who are originally from Toronto, were drawn to one of the many large Canadian flags left at the site. The couple, who came to lay a bouquet with their two children, said the scene in the park was “incredible and a bit overwhelming”. “The sheer volume of people and flowers, you can’t help but be emotional,” Charlie Samolczyk said. Like many in the space, the couple based in the British county of Surrey feel a personal connection to the royal family. They had seen the Queen up close at a horse racing event a few years ago and once attended a garden party with King Charles III when he was Prince of Wales. At the time, Kersten Samolczyk was impressed by “how friendly he was with everyone and how engaged he was in his conversations.” The organization that manages the park is trying to crack down on the kind of gifts that are left at the site. “In the interest of sustainability, we ask that visitors only place organic and compostable material,” Royal Parks wrote on its website. Workers were at the entry gates with scissors on Sunday, helping people remove the plastic wrap from their bouquets before entering. A black and white sign inside the gate warned that gifts and other tokens could not be left on the premises. But the presence of items such as a rubber duck in the shape of Queen Elizabeth, a lawn ornament in the shape of a cricket and a purple plush sombrero suggest the message may have been too little, too late. Royal Parks said flowers left on the site will be processed and composted for use in the gardens, while the cards will be removed and stored off-site.
