Camilla takes missing Winnie-the-Pooh stuffed toy to New York to complete set

A missing stuffed toy from the collection that inspired the Winnie-the-Pooh stories is to be replaced by Queen Camilla, when she visits New York on this week's state visit to the US.

On public display at New York Public Library are the original stuffed toys from the 1920s - Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet, Kanga, and Tigger - that were owned by AA Milne's son and inspired the famous book characters.

But missing from the line up is the original figure of the young kangaroo, called Roo, which the library says was lost in the 1930s.

The Queen is bringing a specially-made Roo to complete the collection, which will travel on the royal flight to the US on Monday.

The state visit is going to be a serious diplomatic challenge, at a time of unusually tense political relations between the US and the UK.

King Charles will be addressing the US Congress in a bid to revive the special relationship and to restore support for the US and UK partnership.

But there will also be lighter moments, such as this literally fluffy story, which will see Queen Camilla give the library a toy Roo, made by the same firm, Merrythought, that made the original toys in the 1920s.

Royal sources describe the gift as "royal soft (toy) power".

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.

AA Milne created the much-loved bedtime stories - which were later made into a Disney cartoon - based on the collection of stuffed toys belonging to his son, Christopher Robin Milne.

The toy animals already have a track record as transatlantic cultural ambassadors.

They had been in the Sussex home of author AA 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.

That might make them the only Sussex UK to US migrants who are seen by the royals on their visit.

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

The famous toy bear Winnie took its name from a black bear in London Zoo, that was particularly popular with children, including the son of AA Milne.

While the New York library has the stuffed toys, London has the skull of the original Winnie, kept by the Royal College of Surgeons after the bear's death in 1934.

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.