Author Michael Bond’s daughter has recalled how Jewish refugees inspired her father to create Paddington Bear, whose antics with the Queen charmed the nation during the Platinum Jubilee.

Karen Jankel told the JC: “My father was gripped by the sight of these young Jewish children stepping off a train at Reading station. There were a number of British evacuees at the station too, waiting to be found safe homes in the countryside.

“Those memories stayed with him and he later drew on them when he created Paddington.”
Bond was a boy when he saw Jewish children arriving in Reading shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War.

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The Queen reveals she keeps a marmalade sandwich in her handbag

His parents took in two Jewish boys for the duration of the war.
Bond’s first Paddington book was published in 1958 — the same year in which Karen was born — and introduced the world to the bear who had travelled by boat from deepest Peru. The author died in 2017, aged 91.

Mrs Jankel — who is married to a Jewish accountant, Anthony — said her father would have been proud to have seen his creation sitting down to tea with the Queen in the sketch filmed in great secrecy months ago and broadcast to viewers’ surprise and delight on Saturday as part of the Jubilee celebrations.
In it, the bear pulls out one of his beloved marmalade sandwiches from under his hat, before the Queen reveals she always keeps one of her own in her handbag and takes it out. Then they both tap along using spoons on teacups to We Will Rock You, the song by rock group Queen. Mrs Jankel, 63 said: “If only my father had been here to watch it too. He would have been so very proud. He loved the Queen and was actually at her Coronation in 1953 because he was there working as a BBC sound engineer at the event.

“We certainly enjoyed seeing Paddington sit down for tea with Her Majesty. It was beautifully done. As soon as they told me of their plans, I knew it would be good, but it was beyond my expectations.

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The Queen and Paddington's turn proved a huge hit with TV viewers

“The Queen looked like she really enjoyed it too from the expression on her face.”
Revealing how she knew in advance about the sketch but had to keep it secret, she said: “I was told I couldn’t tell a soul until the night before and I kept my promise.

“But that made it rather tricky when the time came because my oldest daughter, Robyn, is currently cycling the length of the Danube, so I had to spend ages tracking her down in Slovakia.

“And my younger daughter, India, was in Scotland on a hen do.

“My son, Harry, was easier to find because he was at home with his wife, Athina, and they came round to our house to watch it.”

Mrs Jankel, who lives in Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, says she has received joyful messages from across the world expressing delight over the Jubilee sketch: “That moment has had the effect of connecting me again with so many people.”

Karen with her father Michael and her husband Anthony on their wedding day

Karen with her father Michael and her husband Anthony on their wedding day

She said she was “delighted” that Ukraine’s Jewish president Volodymyr Zelensky had dubbed the voice of Paddington for the Ukrainian release of the recent film adaptations when he was a working actor and comedian.

But she said that she found it “absolutely heartbreaking” that the war in the country is creating a new generation of refugees: “It is a sad synchronicity.”

Mrs Jankel is working on hitherto unpublished Paddington stories by her and her father.

She said: “We wrote many stories together and I keep coming across ones I’d completely forgotten about, which is always exciting. I found one down the back of a filing cabinet. It was called Paddington’s Easter Egg Hunt and we managed to get it published for charity in time for Easter this year.”