The Queen has visited Ashdown Forest, the inspiration for Winnie-the-Pooh’s Hundred Acre Wood, to mark a century since the beloved children’s books were first published.
On her inaugural visit as patron of the Royal Literary Fund, Camilla arrived in East Sussex on Tuesday. She commemorated the 1926 debut of Winnie-the-Pooh, met children’s authors, and unveiled the new ‘Queen’s Walk’ all-weather trail.
Arriving at the forest on Tuesday morning in a black Range Rover, she was dressed in a green leaf patterned dress.
The picturesque woodland, close to author AA Milne’s former home, provided the magical setting for his tales, inspired by walks with his son, Christopher Robin.
The Queen will visit “Poohsticks Bridge” where the pair played “pooh sticks” and will try her hand at the game with three winners of a Winnie-the-Pooh themed poetry competition organised by Ashdown Forest, with the Royal Literary Fund (RLF).
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.
Among those set to meet the Queen include the author and illustrator of The Gruffalo Dame Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, an author of the official Winnie-the-Pooh sequels Jane Riordan.
Meanwhile, Camilla will pay tribute at a memorial to Milne and Winnie-the-Pooh original illustrator EH Shepard located at “The Enchanted Place” where Christopher Robin says goodbye to the animals in the books.
There, she will meet local schoolchildren and volunteers at Ashdown Forest, before opening the Queen’s Walk in a bid to make it easier for future generations to visit the forest.
