Oh, it is just soooo exciting!! All my teddy friends and I are very much filled to the brim right from our littlest teddy toe to the topmost point of out teddy bears with excitement and delight! Would you like to know why? I just have to tell you the most fantastic news ever! (Well, I do apologize for that exuberant outburst. It is not really the most fantastic news ever…but it is still very great news to hear!) Our little friend Tina Teddy has been selected out of the millions and trillions and quadrillions of teddies from all around the world (there are a lot of teddies in the world you know!!) to be…the royal teddy for Kate and Williams new little baby! Isn't that fun! Little Tina will be the one that he hugs and cuddles each and every day! Tina was "over the moon" when she found out, which is quite a strange expression when you think about it because she is only a little teddy and I don't think that she could leap high enough to really vault over the moon. And as for a cow jumping over the moon, like it said in the Hey diddle diddle nursery rhyme…well that does may be feel a bit giggly!  The cow could give a gigantic leap up into the sky and exclaim a big "Moo!", and try to make the height distance, but I think the cow would fail. Now, if you were talking about Henrietta the High Jumper bear who won a gold teddy medal at last year's bear Olympics, I could imagine that she could perhaps have an attempt at jumping over the moon, but not little Tina! But she was very happy indeed when she received the royal telegram from the queen to announce that she had been selected to be the teddy mate of the new little baby. Two men clothed in royal red outfits, yellow bands around their waist, black shoes, and a hat on their head arrived outside Tina's home in a horse drawn carriage! They leapt out of the carriage when the horses came to a stop and marched literally up her front pathway, and with a "rat-a-tat-tat" on the door they then handed over the telegram when Tina opened the door with quite a wide eyed amazed, puzzled and astounded look on her face! I do wish that there had been a camera nearby to record the expression on her face when she read the telegram and heard the news! Tina wondered if she would need to learn how to teddy curtsey? Or does she have to do a royal teddy bow? She decided to send an email to the teddies that William and Harry had when they were just very little princes, to find out about royal protocol and they were very helpful and encouraging to little Tina. They live in an English Aged Care home for Teddies at the moment, and delight in recalling all the special time they had when William and Harry were just little babies. They spend many, many pleasant afternoons having scones, jam and cream with the other teddies there and telling of all the places they went to as teddy companions to the 2 princes and what a royal life holds for teddies. William's bear was Wilfred and Harry's bear was Harley. Wilfred and Harley was very helpful to little Tina and gave her much advice, tips, and a great introduction to royal etiquette. When you see pictures of the new little baby, please make sure that you look to see if you can see Tina too.

Tina is going to try to get the little baby to have some vegemite as his first foods. She explained to us that if the little child has it early, then they will acquire the Aussie taste for vegemite and enjoy having it all through their life!

Tina said that the little baby has got such good kicking actions with his little legs! She thinks that he could become a full forward player in the AFL if he wanted to! She also said that it is sooo delightful when he waves his arms around in the air…she thinks that he could be a cricketer batsman too! She told him that because he has an Aussie teddy bear friend, he could perhaps apply for Australian Citizenship or dual country citizenship and come to Australia to play a season of AFL or bat for out Test cricket team! If he played for our cricket team, it would prove helpful in lots of ways! He would be a great batsman and also when we are playing England their players would not feel happy about trying to get the future King out! It would be a win-win situation! Having a future King playing for your cricket team would also attract a lot of people to come and watch the matches, and the tv station would get HUGE ratings!( But I suppose also that the Australian Cricket board would also charge the tv channel HUGE amounts of money to be allowed to televise it!)  Tina was telling me that when he is just a little bit older, he is going to have fun riding on the rocking horse. The Royals are very good horse riders and are very interested in equestrian events. Maybe one day he will ride in the Melbourne Cup? Tina said that she will give me her "honest opinion" of his riding skills once she has seen him on the rocking horse. All she does know at this stage, is that he could be a very sport-liking young prince!

Tina is a very nice singing teddy, you know. She has a lovely melodious soprano voice. She has been gently and softly singing lullabies to the new little child. She has been singing "Today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic" and "Waltzing Matilda". She "can't wait" until the little baby gets a little bit older and then she can teach him the Aussies chant: "Aussie, Aussie , Aussie, Oi!, Oi!, Oi!!" That will really be exciting for the royal nursery and everyone else to hear! It will certainly wake everyone up that may be having a little nap!

Tina was explaining to me that she will have to be a bit discreet about what she says about the baby and the royals, due to royal protocol. But she did say that she knows that I can keep a secret and will not repeat anything that she tells me in quiet about the baby and his family. I know that I can trust you too to keep a secret, can't I?  I would not want to cause any trouble for my friend Tina.

       Until next time,

           Every little child that is born into this big, wide, wonderful world is a reason to celebrate with so much joy!

      Your friend, Mr. Kiosk-Ted Strath

                       Also simply known as "Ted"!