Camilla donates Paddington bears left in tribute to the Queen to children's charity Barnardo's

The Queen Consort has personally donated a box of Paddington teddy bears left in honour of the Queen to a children's charity.

Camilla arrived at Barnardo's Bow Nursery in east London, accompanied by a member of the Welsh Guards carrying the box of teddies for the children.

The stuffed toy bears were left outside royal palaces as a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II, following her death in September.

Wellwishers left Paddington toys after the Queen's appearance alongside the fictional bear in a special video to mark her Platinum Jubilee in June.

More than 1,000 Paddingtons and other teddy bears were left as tributes in London and Windsor.

The toys were collected from outside the royal palaces by volunteers and professionally cleaned before being donated to Barnardo's.

On Thursday, Camilla took the toy bears to Bow Nursery to donate them to the charity during a "Teddy Bear's Picnic" event for vulnerable children at the centre.

She was greeted by Barnardo's chief executive Lynn Perry MBE and its chair of trustees John Bartlett before being taken on a tour of the nursery by team manager Shamima Ahmed,

The Queen Consort was joined at the event by Paddington film cast members Hugh Bonneville and Madeleine Harris, as well as author Michael Bond's daughter, Karen Jankel, for whom he wrote the stories.

To mark the end of her visit, Camilla shared marmalade sandwiches seated beside Mr Bonneville, Ms Harris and Ms Jankel, while around 40 children sat cross-legged at their feet.

She described it as "a pleasure" to re-home the toy bears, before telling the children: "Please look after them carefully".

Speaking after the event, charity CEO Ms Perry said: "This is a very special day for Barnardo's. We know these treasured bears will mean so much to the children who receive them, particularly as they learn about the special journey they have been on.

"We are incredibly grateful to HM The Queen Consort for her support and kindness. The children here will remember this moment for many years to come."

The Queen was a patron of the children's charity from 1983 to 2016, when she handed over the patronage to Camilla.

Earlier this month, the Royal Family shared an image of Camilla with the cleaned-up teddy bears.

On the Royal Family Twitter account, they wrote: "The Queen Consort is pictured with some of the 1,000 teddy bears that were left in tribute to Queen Elizabeth, which will now be donated to Barnardos.'

"The bears have been scrubbed up to look their best ahead of arrival at their new home."