How the missing Winnie-the-Pooh stuffed toy was made for Camilla's US visit

It came as a bit of a shock when Merrythought, the Shropshire-based teddy bear makers, were contacted by the British embassy in New York about a very special job.

The request? To recreate the original stuffed toy version of Roo, the baby kangaroo that appears in author AA Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh stories.

The original collection of them - Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet, Kanga and Tigger - which were owned by Milne's son and inspired the famous characters, are on display at New York Public Library.

But not Roo, who the library said was lost in the 1930s.

A big order but made even bigger by the fact it would go by special royal delivery - this toy would not just be packed up in a box and shipped to the USA, he was going to be hand delivered to the library by Queen Camilla herself, to complete the collection.

Sarah Holmes, managing director of the Ironbridge company that made the original toys, said it was an honour to get the request.

"The fact that we were asked in the first instance, but Merrythought is Britain's last soft toy factory, we are very well known for making the classic soft toys and we have the skills and capability to do it," she told the BBC.

The Queen's visit to the library, and its Treasures collection, will also mark the centenary of the first Winnie-the-Pooh book being published.

The stuffed toy collection had been in the Sussex home of Milne before touring the US in 1947, going on display in New York in 1956 and then becoming permanent residents at the library in 1987, after being donated by a US publisher.

But according to the New York library, the kangaroo toy that inspired Roo "was lost in an apple orchard during the 1930s".

"He's probably looking a little smarter than the original Roo might, which would obviously have been 100 years old," said Holmes, who added he was made from traditional mohair.

"We were very lucky in the fact that we actually had what we believe is the original Kanga and Roo, or the same product, in our archives - so we could refer to that to create a really accurate recreation of Roo."

Believe it or not, there is another link between Milne and the company, which was established in 1930.

"Christopher Robin's original toys were actually made by a British brand called Farnell which is now part of Merrythought's group, hence that is part of our connection," Holmes explained.

"Our most popular teddy bear is a replica of Christopher Robin's childhood bear Edward, who is the teddy bear that inspired the whole story of Winnie the Pooh to be written."

The Queen's visit to the library will be part of her campaign to promote reading and literacy and will be part of the state visit's trip to New York on Wednesday.

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