Queen Elizabeth II
Clean-up work started after the grief
Countless flowers, pictures and drawings were laid in honor of the Queen.
© imago/ZUMA Wire
The royal mourning period for the Queen has officially come to an end. At the same time, the clean-up work began in Great Britain.
The extent of the mourning for the late Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022) was evident not only from the kilometer-long queues in front of Westminster Hall or the record ratings during the state funeral. A week after the funeral, bouquets of flowers, letters and pictures still line the streets of Great Britain in many places. And countless plush figures of the popular British children’s book character Paddington Bear were also discarded in honor of the monarch. But what happens to the symbolic expressions of mourning?
Hundreds of volunteers are now working to clean up the streets after the official end of the Queen’s mourning period. the flowers which, according to the “Daily Mail”, are currently being transported to Kensington Gardens, is therefore given a symbolic honor: “We felt it was appropriate to continue the story of the flower gifts,” Andrew Williams, head of the royal parks, is quoted as saying. The flowers are therefore made into compost and thus create the basis for new life.
“The mulch obtained from the organic material will enrich the soil of the royal parks for years to come. In this way, the flowers will continue to bring joy to the millions of visitors to the royal parks in the future” – including the “bees and butterflies”.
What happens to the teddy bears?
According to the report, however, the secondary use of the other funeral gifts is not so easy. So no decision has yet been made about what to do with the countless letters, pictures and drawings. This also applies to the stuffed animals, which are to be collected separately and initially kept in storage rooms within the parks.
Why so many Paddington teddies at all?
That Paddington Bear became a symbol of mourning for the Queen, has to do with a charming video, which was created as part of the 70th anniversary of Elizabeth II’s throne. In it, the clumsy bear and the queen drink tea together and discover that they share a penchant for jam sandwiches. “Happy anniversary, ma’am,” Paddington says at the end. “And thanks for everything.”