Earlier this week, Queen Camilla visited the Ashdown Forest in East Sussex for her first official engagement as Patron of the Royal Literary Fund.
The special visit marked the 100th anniversary of Winnie-the-Pooh, A.A. Milne’s famous honey-loving bear, and took place in the forest that inspired the Hundred Acre Wood.
As part of the celebrations, held during the National Year of Reading, Her Majesty visited the much-loved ‘Poohsticks Bridge’, where Milne once played with his son, Christopher Robin.
There, she joined children's authors including Dame Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler for a game of pooh sticks, using sticks gathered from the gardens of Buckingham Palace.
The game was umpired by RLF Chief Executive Edward Kemp, with the rules read aloud by broadcaster and author Gyles Brandreth. Camilla revealed that, like many of us, she had spent much of her own childhood playing pooh sticks.
Donning a lovely leaf-patterned dress, the Queen also visited the Gills Lap Memorial, a commemorative stone plaque which marks the spot where Christopher Robin says goodbye to Pooh at the end of the stories.
The visit ended with cake and a reading from Gyles Brandreth — a fitting tribute to one of Britain’s best-loved literary characters.
In East Sussex, The Big One Hundred will mark Pooh’s 100th year with performances, nature-focused events and creative workshops designed to help protect the forest for the next 100 years.
The programme includes Explorer Days, interactive outdoor theatre and the appearance of Poppet, a giant shapeshifting puppet inspired by the forest’s wildlife. Up north, at the National Trust’s Tatton Park in Cheshire, celebrations will include a family-friendly exhibition, an immersive garden story trail and a special storytime and drawing event with author Jane Riordan for families this summer.
The nature edit
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