Camilla leads Brits in new war with NYC over original Winnie-the-Pooh — but Gotham says fuggedaboutit!
Get stuffed, Britain.
The Crown has reignited its tug of war with Big Apple public-library officials over the first Winnie-the-Pooh bear — but the city’s bookworm bigs scoff the stuffed icon is now a certified New Yorker and that the royals can fuggedabout getting it back.
This month’s centennial celebration of the famed children’s classic — revolving around the 105-year-old stuffed animal that belonged to Christopher Robin Milne, the son of English Winnie-the-Pooh creator A.A. Milne — apparently prompted the fresh face-off, with Queen Camilla reportedly leading the charge.
Her highness has been asking for the original Pooh to be allowed to take a vacation back home in Britain after decades behind glass at the NYPL’s Bryant Park branch in Manhattan — even offering lodging in some of the royal family’s castles, the Washington Post said last week.
Britain also wants to land the original stuffed versions of Pooh’s Hundred Acre Wood pals — Eeyore, Piglet, Kanga and Tigger — that library has in its collection, too.
The country has been celebrating the famed book’s birthday with anniversary editions, commemorative stamps, LEGO sets and a newly authorized sequel, “A Little Boy and His Bear.”
But its citizens are apparently upset that the original Pooh and his pals are missing their own party.
Yet the pleas from across The Pond have fallen on deaf ears at the NYPL, which said Pooh and his friends are legal citizens of the US now.
“The New York Public Library has been the proud steward of Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends since 1987, when the dolls were donated to us by Dutton Children’s Books,” said Melissa Grace, the NYPL’s director of communications, in a statement to The Post.
“On permanent display at our flagship location in Midtown Manhattan, Christopher Robin’s childhood toys are a cornerstone of our renowned children’s literature collection,” she said, referring to the Pooh character, a boy, modeled after Milne’s son.
“We’re excited to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Winnie-the-Pooh, and invite everyone to see them up-close in our Treasures exhibition—always for free,” Grace said.
Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal piled on about the grab for Pooh, daring the Brits to, “come and take it.”
Some British columnists recently published op-eds with outlets such as the New York Post waxing poetic about where the stuffed bear should be stationed — cheekily even suggesting the UK offer up Meghan Markle in a quid-pro-quo exchange.
Queen Camilla is apparently trying a soft approach, hoping that will work.
“It’s not a campaign. It’s an invitation,” insisted Gyles Brandreth, a Milne friend and Camilla representative, to the Washington Post.
Parliament started begging for the return of the toy years ago — prompting then-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani to rebuff them in 1998, calling the stuffed animal “an example of the very best in immigration.”
“Pooh on you!” read The Post’s Feb. 5, 1998, front cover on the “Trans-Atlantic battle.”
The Brits even tattled about the issue later to then-President Barack Obama, with an Oval Office aide reportedly asking the NYPL if a peace deal could be brokered, the Washington Post reported.
“The answer is no,” fired back Anthony Marx, the NYPL president at the time.
And the answer is the same today.
The NYPL is celebrating Winnie-the-Pooh’s 100th anniversary all fall long and recently had a special birthday party for him.
London-born Milne published “Winnie-the-Pooh,” the first of several short storybooks featuring the honey-loving bear and his friends, on Oct. 14, 1926.
Buckingham Palace did not return requests for comment by The Post.