Army of volunteers descend on Green Park to clear plastic from floral tributes left for the Queen

13 September 2022, 08:06

An army of volunteers have been hailed for their efforts in clearing plastic waste from floral tributes left to the Queen in Green Park.

The Queen's coffin will make a poignant journey to Buckingham Palace on Tuesday while the King will travel to Northern Ireland for the first time as monarch.

Thousands of members of the public moved solemnly past the oak coffin through the night as it stood on public view for 24 hours at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh.

Meanwhile thousands of people are still placing floral tributes in Green Park.

Mourners have been asked by Royal Parks not leave marmalade sandwiches - a nod to the Queen's comedy sketch with Paddington Bear - for fear of a negative effect on wildlife.

But flowers wrapped in plastic have been causing separate issues of litter waste, and an army of well-wishers has descended on the park to help clear it away and ensure all tributes are completely compostable.

The floral tributes have been described as having a “beautiful” and “respectful” atmosphere and onlookers have remarked on the mass efforts to remove the plastic wrappings from the flowers.

Thomas Soo posted footage of people clearing plastics, writing: “Amazing crowd helping to remove plastics from flowers in Green Park.”

Read more: Scotland's final goodbye: Mourners bid farewell to Queen before she leaves country for the last time

One helper wrote: "I stayed for three hours doing this, a small collection of people started and it grew and grew from there, it was wonderful and such a privilege to arrange so many flowers and cards."

Another posted on Twitter: “A big up to everyone removing plastic from bunches of flowers in Green Park.

“Flowers should NEVER be wrapped in plastic. It's completely unnecessary. A total nonsense.

“Florists / shops who sell them ... and people who buy them wrapped in plastic ... you can all do better.”

A third said: “If you are in London, please consider taking a few minutes to help volunteers remove plastic from floral tributes at Green Park. It is an enormous undertaking and they have so much work to be done.”

Park bosses meanwhile have promised to store all the paddington bears left in tribute until it can be worked out how to sensitively handle them.

So many Paddingtons have been left that organisers have asked for no more to be brought down and for people to stick to unwrapped flowers instead.

The Royal Parks' website states they would 'prefer' visitors not to bring “non-floral objects and artefacts such as teddy bears or balloons”. 

In a statement, the parks said they would store the teddies that have been left and would decide what to do with them over the next few months. 

Tens of thousands of people have flocked to the site to leave bouquets, written tributes and cuddly toys in honour of Queen Elizabeth II.