Harriet

Harriet the monkey had an unexpectedly long stay at Buckingham Palace -but it seems that it was an enjoyable one.

Five-year-old Australian Savannah Hart was traveling around Europe with her family and Harriet, one of the six “traveling monkeys” lent out by her school. While touring Buckingham Palace, one of the Queen’s official residences,  Hart accidentally left Harriet behind. 

In the hopes of getting their monkey back, Hart and her classmates went right to the top, penning a letter to Queen Elizabeth herself. They also enclosed photos of Harriet’s many travels.

A week later, they heard back: Harriet was safe and sound. Better than that, in fact; Harriet was apparently living it up in the palace. Buckingham Palace staffers put the monkey on a flight home—but, lest she feel afraid of taking a long flight alone, Harriet was provided with a traveling companion. Based on a photo of the pair of them, the monkey and fellow stuffed animal Rex the corgi became fast friends.

The palace also released a photo of the staff posing with their new pal Harriet, and an image of the monkey being treated to a scone. 

“We aim to give every visitor to Buckingham Palace a memorable experience and after we had found Harriet the monkey near the Family Pavilion, she spent some time helping out the Visitor Services team before heading home,” a Royal Collection Trust spokesperson explained. “We hope Harriet enjoyed telling Rex the corgi about her adventures on the journey back to Australia.”

Certainly, Buckingham Palace knows how to treat people and animals (even the stuffed kind) well. Queen Elizabeth has a lot of corgis, and part-corgis. Her dogs get HRH treatment! Isn’t it lovely that a stuffed Corgi went home with Harriet!

Well done, Buck House!