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HM The Queen plays ‘Pooh Sticks’ and celebrates the legacy of AA Milne

Yesterday the Royal Literary Fund (RLF) hosted our Royal Patron, Her Majesty The Queen, at a special 100th anniversary celebration for RLF benefactor AA Milne‘s Winnie-the-Pooh in Ashdown Forest, the location that inspired Milne’s original stories.

The visit was Her Majesty’s first engagement as the RLF’s patron. She was joined by a number of children’s authors including Dame Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler – known for their longstanding partnership on books including The Gruffalo, Stick Man and Room on the Broom – as well as RLF writer beneficiary, Cerrie Burnell, Jane Riordan and RLF Fellow Sita Brahmachari to play ‘Pooh Sticks’ on the original bridge in Ashdown Forest where Milne and his son, Christopher Robin Milne, played the same game together.

(l-r) RLF Fellow Sita Brahmachari, Dame Julia Donaldson, Her Majesty The Queen, Cerrie Burnell, Jane Riordan, RLF Chief Executive Edward Kemp, event host Gyles Brandreth and writer and illustrator Axel Scheffler play Pooh Sticks in Ashdown Forest. © Royal Literary Fund

The game – which was umpired by RLF Chief Executive Edward Kemp, with event host Gyles Brandreth providing ‘VAR’ assistance – was won by Axel Scheffler, who was presented with Winnie-the-Pooh’s favourite sweet treat, a pot of Ashdown Honey, in celebration of his victory.

Axel Scheffler – and his teddy bear – are presented with a pot of honey by Her Majesty The Queen on Pooh Sticks Bridge in Ashdown Forest, watched by RLF Chief Executive Edward Kemp, Gyles Brandreth, Cerrie Burnell, Sita Brahmachari and Dame Julia Donaldson. © Royal Literary Fund

Her Majesty also played a second round of Pooh Sticks with winners of the 2026 Ashdown Forest Poetry competition, as well as judges Ashdown Forest Trustee Kathryn Aalto; writer of the Winnie-the-Pooh continuation stories Jane Riordan; RLF Trustee Fiona Sampson; and Louie Leighton, a beneficiary of the Clare Milne Trust. The competition winners were Yici Zhang, who won in the 6-10 years category; Esme Coulter, who won in the 11-17 years category; and Miriam Mason, who won in the 18+ age category. Yici also won on the day at Ashdown, securing a victory in the second game of ‘Pooh Sticks’.

(l-r) RLF Trustee and judge Fiona Sampson, competition winner Miriam Mason, Ashdown Forest Trustee and judge Kathryn Aalto, Her Majesty The Queen, competition winner Esme Coulter, Clare Milne Trust Beneficiary Louie Leighton, competition winner Yici Zhang, host Giles Brandreth, writer and judge Jane Riordan and RLF Chief Executive Edward Kemp. © Royal Literary Fund

And the games didn’t end there, as Her Majesty also played a final impromptu round of ‘Pooh Sticks’ with local schoolchildren, who were in the forest on a school trip. She won the third round, saying later:

I spent a lot of time as a child playing Pooh Sticks but never at the original place, so it’s a big first in my life to play on the proper bridge – and even to come away with a first at the end of it, having seen where the first lane was.

Her Majesty, The Queen

After her three rounds of Pooh Sticks, Her Majesty made her way to Gill’s Lap, which is marked by a memorial plaque dedicated to AA Milne and Winnie-the-Pooh illustrator EH Shepard.

Known in Milne’s stories as The Enchanted Place, this is the location where Christopher Robin says a final goodbye to Winnie-the-Pooh. Gyles Brandreth, who accompanied Her Majesty from Pooh Bridge, read this final scene aloud to an audience including members of the public, schoolchildren from Ashdown Primary School and Ashdown Forest staff, trustees and volunteers.

Wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top of the forest, a little boy and his Bear will always be playing.

AA Milne

After unveiling an all-weather trail named the ‘Queen’s Walk’ that will enable easier access to Ashdown Forest for future generations, Her Majesty’s visit ended with a slice of cake baked by the Forest Centre’s resident cake baker, Karen Bowles and a speech from Her Majesty.

I’m thrilled to have this walk named after me. I’m sure thousands of people will come flocking in, because Winnie-the-Pooh is a universal hero. People love him and his friends all over the world.

Her Majesty, The Queen

It is thanks to the love people have for Winnie-the-Pooh that the Royal Literary Fund, which is one of four beneficiaries to have received money from AA Milne’s estate, has been able to continue supporting writers across the UK. Since 1972, £91 million has been generated from his estate, contributing to our hardship grants for writers and our education and outreach programmes.

There could be no more fitting occasion for Her Majesty The Queen’s first official engagement as Patron of the Royal Literary Fund than a celebration of AA Milne’s enduring literary legacy. During the centenary of Winnie-the-Pooh, it is especially meaningful to gather in the landscape that inspired these timeless stories and to honour a writer whose remarkable bequest has enabled future generations of writers to continue their work. We are honoured that Her Majesty is helping us celebrate that extraordinary gift and the enduring value of literature to our national life.

Edward Kemp, Chief Executive of the RLF

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