Children reign at Queen's do

Postman Pat delivered invitations to the bash. Picture / Reuters

BRITAIN - Harry Potter and Captain Hook will be hot on the trail of the Queen's stolen handbag this weekend at one of the most surreal garden parties ever staged at Buckingham Palace.

To celebrate her 80th birthday, Queen Elizabeth has invited 2000 children to her London residence for a Mad Hatter's Tea Party with Winnie-the-Pooh, Paddington Bear and Thomas the Tank Engine.

Winners of a nationwide ballot will also be treated to J.K. Rowling reading from her latest Harry Potter book and Michael Bond recounting how Paddington Bear munched his marmalade sandwiches all the way from Darkest Peru.

Then after tea the children will see a 75-minute show - The Queen's Handbag - drawing on the Roald Dahl classic The Big Friendly Giant and starring his granddaughter, model Sophie Dahl, playing herself.

A children's literacy trust is also being set up, aimed at weaning young children off a diet of television and computer games. About 12,000 books are being donated by publishers to a programme for disadvantaged children.

Joining Rowling will be Philip Pullman whose His Dark Materials trilogy is shortly to be turned into a movie franchise. The day's cast list also includes characters from Mary Poppins, Toad of Toad Hall, The Jungle Book and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

- REUTERS