Why the Real Christopher Robin Hated 'Pooh'
A.A. Milne's son struggled with the repercussions of fame for most of his life.
By Maria CarterUpdated: Aug 1, 2018Save Article
Disney's Christopher Robin – Extended Trailer (Disney)
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August 1920: Christopher Robin Milne is born to writer Alan Alexander (A.A.) Milne and Daphne de Selincourt.
1924: A.A. Milne publishes first Winnie the Pooh story, a collection of poems titled When We Were Very Young.
1928: The final Pooh tale, The House at Pooh Corner, is published.
1928-1929: Christopher Robin begins getting bullied by his classmates.
1940-1942: Christopher Robin fails to find work after college, putting a wedge between father and son.
1947: Christopher Robin meets Lesley, his first cousin, and marries her months later.
1956: A.A. Milne dies.
1996: Christopher Robin dies.
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
It’s been nearly 100 years since the first Winnie the Pooh tale was published, but the stories of Christopher Robin and his adventures with the friendly animals of the Hundred Acre Wood continue to capture the hearts of fans, both young and old.
The newest installment of the stuffed-animal-inspired series is Christopher Robin, a movie starring Ewan McGregor as the adult version of the title character. He reunites with his “silly old bear,” who then helps him get his life back on track. Though this live-action take is purely fictional, the man behind the books is very real—and he suffered great strife from his namesake’s success.
The Real-Life Christopher Robin
Christopher Robin Milne was born in Chelsea, London, on Aug. 21, 1920, just 21 months after the Great War ended. He was the first and only child born to former British Army officer Alan Alexander Milne and his wife Daphne de Sélincourt. His father, a screenwriter and novelist by trade, drew inspiration from Christopher's stuffed animals, particularly a teddy bear named Edward (the name "Winnie" came from a bear they saw at the London Zoo), to create stories about the friends' adventures in the Hundred Acre Wood. The first book, a collection of children's poems titled When We Were Very Young, came out in 1924, shortly after Christopher Robin's fourth birthday. It sold more than 50,000 copies in eight weeks, according to the Telegraph.
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Getty Images
A.A. Milne and son Christopher Robin and his teddy bear in 1926
Christopher Robin's Struggle with A.A. Milne's Success
Looking back on his early childhood, Christopher told writer Gyles Brandreth his father was "not good with children" and was mostly absent, either working or at London's esteemed Garrick Club. His mother, meanwhile, insisted on dressing him in "girlish" clothes and keeping his hair below his ears, a style that was odd even for the time. Christopher's closest confidant was his nanny, Olive Rand, who was with him for more than 8 years.
Getty Images
Christopher Robin and his mother in 1926
The fourth and final Pooh title, The House at Pooh Corner, published in October 1928. By then, each book was selling hundreds of thousands of copies worldwide. As the series' popularity grew, so did Christopher Milne's resentment of it. Jealous classmates bullied and taunted Christopher, who responded by taking boxing lessons to learn how to defend himself. Entering boarding school at age 9, Christopher Robin had a full-fledged "love-hate relationship with my fictional namesake" that continued into adulthood, he wrote in his 1974 memoir The Enchanted Places.
"At home I still liked him, indeed felt at times quite proud that I shared his name and was able to bask in some of his glory. At school, however, I began to dislike him, and I found myself disliking him more and more the older I got," Christopher wrote.
Getty Images
A first edition Winnie-the-Pooh book with characters from a 1930\'s game, auctioned by Sotheby\'s in 2008
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A Fraught Relationship Between Father and Son
Father and son forged a semblance of a relationship during Christopher's adolescence, bonding over algebra problems and crossword puzzles when the younger Milne was at home on breaks, but that foundation crumbled once Christopher left for college at Cambridge. After serving in World War II and finishing his degree, Christopher, then in his mid-twenties, failed to find fulfilling work. He wasn't living up to his "household name."
The troubling period solidified his resentment towards A.A. He believed, he would later reveal, that his father "had got where he was by climbing on my infant shoulders, that he had filched from me my good name and had left me with nothing but the empty fame of being his son."
Getty Images
Christopher Robin and fiancee Lesley de Selincourt in 1948
Christopher probably would have grown even more bitter if he hadn't met his future wife, who also happened to be his first cousin, at age 27. Mrs. Milne disapproved of Christopher and Lesley's relationship because she and her brother, Lesley's father, had been estranged for 30 years. The couple married months later, nonetheless, and opened a bookshop together.
Writing his memoirs seemed cathartic for Christopher—"Believe it or not, I can look at those four [Winnie-the-Pooh] books without flinching," he said at age 60—but he never truly reconciled with his parents. He visited his father occasionally in the author's last years, but after A.A. Milne died, Christopher only saw his mother once in the remaining 15 years she lived past her husband's death. Even on her deathbed, according to the Oxford Biography Index, Daphne Milne refused to see her only son.
Getty Images
Christopher Milne at the unveiling of a statue in honor of his father at the London Zoo in 1981
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Making Peace with Pooh
Dutton Children's Books Pooh's Complete Library
Now 55% Off
$68 $30 at Amazon
Christopher became friends with Brandreth, who was writing a musical about the elder Milne, in 1980. He told the writer that he wasn't angry anymore, that he'd said goodbye to his parents "long ago." He even parted ways with the friends who'd started it all—his childhood toys Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore, and Kanga—in 1947 when he gave them to the New York Public Library, where they remained on display for 20 years.
"I like to have around me the things I like today, not the things I once liked many years ago," he said. Despite the resentment and feelings of inadequacy that plagued Christopher for much of his life, Brandweth wrote that he believed his friend "was happy and fulfilled" at the time of his death in 1996.
Related Stories
Watch: \'Goodbye Christopher Robin\' Trailer
The Childhood Home of Winnie the Pooh is for Sale
Meet Penguin, Pooh\'s Newest Friend
Disney's Christopher Robin – Extended Trailer (Disney)
Digital Spy GB
Current Time 0:47
Total Duration 4:00
UNMUTECountry Living editors select each product featured. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. Why Trust Us?
August 1920: Christopher Robin Milne is born to writer Alan Alexander (A.A.) Milne and Daphne de Selincourt.
1924: A.A. Milne publishes first Winnie the Pooh story, a collection of poems titled When We Were Very Young.
1928: The final Pooh tale, The House at Pooh Corner, is published.
1928-1929: Christopher Robin begins getting bullied by his classmates.
1940-1942: Christopher Robin fails to find work after college, putting a wedge between father and son.
1947: Christopher Robin meets Lesley, his first cousin, and marries her months later.
1956: A.A. Milne dies.
1996: Christopher Robin dies.
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
It’s been nearly 100 years since the first Winnie the Pooh tale was published, but the stories of Christopher Robin and his adventures with the friendly animals of the Hundred Acre Wood continue to capture the hearts of fans, both young and old.
The newest installment of the stuffed-animal-inspired series is Christopher Robin, a movie starring Ewan McGregor as the adult version of the title character. He reunites with his “silly old bear,” who then helps him get his life back on track. Though this live-action take is purely fictional, the man behind the books is very real—and he suffered great strife from his namesake’s success.
The Real-Life Christopher Robin
Christopher Robin Milne was born in Chelsea, London, on Aug. 21, 1920, just 21 months after the Great War ended. He was the first and only child born to former British Army officer Alan Alexander Milne and his wife Daphne de Sélincourt. His father, a screenwriter and novelist by trade, drew inspiration from Christopher's stuffed animals, particularly a teddy bear named Edward (the name "Winnie" came from a bear they saw at the London Zoo), to create stories about the friends' adventures in the Hundred Acre Wood. The first book, a collection of children's poems titled When We Were Very Young, came out in 1924, shortly after Christopher Robin's fourth birthday. It sold more than 50,000 copies in eight weeks, according to the Telegraph.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
Getty Images
A.A. Milne and son Christopher Robin and his teddy bear in 1926
Christopher Robin's Struggle with A.A. Milne's Success
Looking back on his early childhood, Christopher told writer Gyles Brandreth his father was "not good with children" and was mostly absent, either working or at London's esteemed Garrick Club. His mother, meanwhile, insisted on dressing him in "girlish" clothes and keeping his hair below his ears, a style that was odd even for the time. Christopher's closest confidant was his nanny, Olive Rand, who was with him for more than 8 years.
Getty Images
Christopher Robin and his mother in 1926
The fourth and final Pooh title, The House at Pooh Corner, published in October 1928. By then, each book was selling hundreds of thousands of copies worldwide. As the series' popularity grew, so did Christopher Milne's resentment of it. Jealous classmates bullied and taunted Christopher, who responded by taking boxing lessons to learn how to defend himself. Entering boarding school at age 9, Christopher Robin had a full-fledged "love-hate relationship with my fictional namesake" that continued into adulthood, he wrote in his 1974 memoir The Enchanted Places.
"At home I still liked him, indeed felt at times quite proud that I shared his name and was able to bask in some of his glory. At school, however, I began to dislike him, and I found myself disliking him more and more the older I got," Christopher wrote.
Getty Images
A first edition Winnie-the-Pooh book with characters from a 1930\'s game, auctioned by Sotheby\'s in 2008
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
A Fraught Relationship Between Father and Son
Father and son forged a semblance of a relationship during Christopher's adolescence, bonding over algebra problems and crossword puzzles when the younger Milne was at home on breaks, but that foundation crumbled once Christopher left for college at Cambridge. After serving in World War II and finishing his degree, Christopher, then in his mid-twenties, failed to find fulfilling work. He wasn't living up to his "household name."
The troubling period solidified his resentment towards A.A. He believed, he would later reveal, that his father "had got where he was by climbing on my infant shoulders, that he had filched from me my good name and had left me with nothing but the empty fame of being his son."
Getty Images
Christopher Robin and fiancee Lesley de Selincourt in 1948
Christopher probably would have grown even more bitter if he hadn't met his future wife, who also happened to be his first cousin, at age 27. Mrs. Milne disapproved of Christopher and Lesley's relationship because she and her brother, Lesley's father, had been estranged for 30 years. The couple married months later, nonetheless, and opened a bookshop together.
Writing his memoirs seemed cathartic for Christopher—"Believe it or not, I can look at those four [Winnie-the-Pooh] books without flinching," he said at age 60—but he never truly reconciled with his parents. He visited his father occasionally in the author's last years, but after A.A. Milne died, Christopher only saw his mother once in the remaining 15 years she lived past her husband's death. Even on her deathbed, according to the Oxford Biography Index, Daphne Milne refused to see her only son.
Getty Images
Christopher Milne at the unveiling of a statue in honor of his father at the London Zoo in 1981
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
Making Peace with Pooh
Dutton Children's Books Pooh's Complete Library
Now 55% Off
$68 $30 at Amazon
Christopher became friends with Brandreth, who was writing a musical about the elder Milne, in 1980. He told the writer that he wasn't angry anymore, that he'd said goodbye to his parents "long ago." He even parted ways with the friends who'd started it all—his childhood toys Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore, and Kanga—in 1947 when he gave them to the New York Public Library, where they remained on display for 20 years.
"I like to have around me the things I like today, not the things I once liked many years ago," he said. Despite the resentment and feelings of inadequacy that plagued Christopher for much of his life, Brandweth wrote that he believed his friend "was happy and fulfilled" at the time of his death in 1996.
Related Stories
Watch: \'Goodbye Christopher Robin\' TrailerThe Childhood Home of Winnie the Pooh is for SaleMeet Penguin, Pooh\'s Newest Friend