Flamingos, sandwiches and unusual items left at Queen’s Memorial in London – Canada News

A pink papier-mâché flamingo, a jam sandwich and a rubber ducky in the shape of a queen are among the items left among cards and flowers at a memorial to the late Queen Elizabeth II in London.

Palace officials have restricted access to the gates of Buckingham Palace, instead asking mourners to take their cards and flowers to a special spot in nearby Green Park.

On Sunday, hundreds of people were able to pass through the gates of the floral tribute garden at the same time to add their bouquets and cards to the growing piles that crisscross the grounds. However, some people left more than just flowers.

A number of people had left cards and stuffed animals with the children’s book character Paddington Bear. One person even placed a labeled jam sandwich in a zip-lock bag next to the toy, a nod to a video the Queen filmed with Paddington earlier this year.

In this video, released around the time of the platinum anniversary in June, the Queen and the Bear share a messy tea and talk about their mutual love of jam sandwiches

Mother-daughter couple Lorraine and Angela Payne, from the West Midlands town of Nuneaton, chose a Paddington Bear card in honor of the video, which they believe reflects the Queen’s personality and humour.

“It was so poignant and so beautiful that that happened,” Lorraine Payne said as she and her daughter hung their card from a tree.

Many of the flowers were accompanied by children’s drawings, long letters and heartfelt thanks. The Paynes said their message was a simple one to thank the Queen “for her service to England, the Commonwealth and the world”.

Corgi dogs and horses – two of the Queen’s loves – were popular themes among the gifts, as were hand-drawn, painted and even 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, originally from Toronto, were drawn to one of several large Canadian flags that had been 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 little bit overwhelming”.

“The sheer volume of people and flowers, you can’t help but be emotional,” said Charlie Samolczyk.

Like many locally, the Surrey couple feel a personal connection to the royal family. You could see the Queen up close at a horse race 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 noticed “how friendly he was to everyone and how engaged he was in his conversations”.

The organization that manages the park is trying to crack down on the types of gifts that are left on the grounds.

“In the interest of sustainability, we ask visitors to only lay organic and compostable material,” Royal Parks wrote on its website.

Workers stood at the front gates with scissors on Sunday, helping people remove the plastic wrapping from their bouquets before entering.

A black and white sign inside the gate warned that gifts and other valuables were not to be left on the premises.

But the presence of items such as a rubber ducky in the shape of Queen Elizabeth, a Corgi lawn ornament in the shape of a Union Jack and a purple velvet sombrero suggested the message might have been too little and too late.

Royal Parks said flowers left on the site will eventually be processed and composted for use in the gardens, while cards are removed and stored off site.