This weekend, two British institutions — Queen Elizabeth and Paddington Bear — charmed the world in a surprise skit that kicked off the Platinum Party at …
This weekend, two British institutions — Queen Elizabeth and Paddington Bear — charmed the world in a surprise skit that kicked off the Platinum Party at the Palace tribute concert outside Buckingham Palace. But many viewers might not have known the real origins of the ursine celebrity who hails from “darkest Peru” — yet was actually inspired by Jewish refugee children. Author Michael Bond, who passed away in 2017 at the age of 91, decided to write a book about an orphaned cub sent to England after spotting a toy bear alone on a shelf at Selfridge’s department store on Christmas Eve in 1956.
“It looked rather forlorn,” he told The Sunday Telegraph, so he purchased the bear as a stocking stuffer for his wife and began to write a story about it. Less than two weeks later, he had a completed novel which was sold for 75 pounds. Bond revealed that while writing the first book, “A Bear Called Paddington,” he was partly inspired by vivid memories he had of seeing Jewish refugee children pass through the train station in his hometown of London, on their way to London from Nazi-dominated Europe ahead of World War II.
