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Girl who lost toy monkey at Buckingham Palace visit has it returned by the Queen

Katie Hart's daughter forgot her toy monkey during a Buckingham Palace tour. Royal Collection Trust/Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019

A young girl’s toy monkey had the vacation of a lifetime after it was left behind at Buckingham Palace.

While on a touristy trip to England in August, five-year-old Savannah Hart brought her monkey toy, Harriet, on a tour of one of London‘s most famous sites.

A day later while on a school bus, her mom, Katie, noticed the toy was missing.

“The next day we were on a bus and I just had the thought and said, ‘Where’s Harriet?'” Savannah’s mom told Australian news outlet 7News.

READ MORE: Who pays for the Royal Family’s lavish lifestyle?

In a mission to repatriate Harriet, Savannah got together with her school friends to write a letter to the Queen.

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Including photos of the travelling monkey in Northern Ireland, Scotland and France, they sealed the letter and put it in the mailbox, hoping for the best.

They addressed the letter to “Madam,” writing: “We are a small preschool located in Woodside, South Australia. We have some toy travelling monkeys that children take with them on holidays and bring back photos for their adventures. This helps our children learn more about the wider world.”

“One of our Monkeys, Harriet, recently visited Buckingham Palace with one of our little girls, Savannah. Unfortunately, Harriet was left behind in the activity room on the 13th August 2019. Savannah’s mother did contact palace staff and leave her name and email address in case she was found, but to date we have not heard from Harriet!”

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Palace staff thankfully found Harriet, who was put on a flight home to Australia alongside a collectible toy corgi named Rex — but not before she was photographed enjoying some scones on the palace grounds.

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READ MORE: Princess Charlotte joins Prince George, Kate Middleton and Prince William for first day of school

The children’s book Does The Queen Wear Her Crown In Bed? was also included in the thoughtful return.

Speaking to CNN, Woodside Preschool teacher Tash Hortle said: “It’s beautiful, all the effort the workers went to to get her back to us.”

“The look on [Savannah’s] face when she opened the box was priceless. She was so happy to see [Harriet] returned.”

7News reports that Harriet will be hanging up her travel hat, retiring from the jet-setting life after one final trip to Government House in November.

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meaghan.wray@globalnews.ca

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