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Queen Elizabeth to host own Mad Hatter's Party

Posted on: Thursday, 22 June 2006, 16:29 CDT

By Paul Majendie

LONDON (Reuters) - Harry Potter and Captain Hook will be hot on the trail of the queen's stolen handbag on Sunday at one of the most surreal garden parties ever staged at Buckingham Palace.

To celebrate her 80th birthday, Britain's Queen Elizabeth has invited 2,000 children to her London residence for a Mad Hatter's Tea Party with children's characters Winnie the Pooh and Paddington Bear joining forces with Thomas the Tank Engine.

Lucky ticket holders from a nationwide ballot will be treated to JK Rowling reading from her latest Harry Potter book in an "author's corner," alongside Michael Bond recounting how Paddington Bear munched his marmalade sandwiches all the way from Darkest Peru.

Then after tea the children will be treated to 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.

To mark the party, a children's literacy trust is also being set up, aimed at weaning young kids off a diet of television and computer games.

"The importance of literature is key to the event and we hope to use this as a catalyst to teach children the joy of books and how important they are," a Buckingham Palace official told Reuters.

About 12,000 free books are being donated by publishers to an outreach program for disadvantaged children.

One of the project's prime supporters is Rowling, whose tales of a teenage wizard have sold more than 300 million copies. She is currently writing the seventh and final installment of the Potter saga.

The three stars of the Harry Potter films have pre-recorded a special scene for the Palace show.

Also joining Rowling in the "author's tent" will be Philip Pullman whose "His Dark Materials" trilogy is shortly to be turned into a movie franchise that could one day rival the Potter films.

The cast list for the day draws on Britain's contribution to the world of children's literature, and includes characters from Mary Poppins to Toad of Toad Hall, and from The Jungle Book to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

The early evening show is being shown live on national television.

Source: REUTERS

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