Uncle Prince Harry Got Little Prince Louis an Insanely Expensive Gift

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• Winnie-the-Pooh recently turned 102 years old.

• The "birthday" is based on the day, 102 years ago, that author A.A. Milne gifted the original teddy bear to his son, Christopher Robin.

• Recently, it was revealed that none other than Prince Harry paid 8,000 pounds to secure a first-edition collection of Winnie-the-Pooh for nephew Prince Louis

One of the most significant figures in literature, cinema, and (most strangely) recent geopolitics just turned 102—and he hardly looks like he's aged since the day he met his best friend, Christopher Robin.

Yes, August 21 marked the birthday of Winnie-the-Pooh, arguably the most world-famous and culturally influential "gift" ever given.

The gift-giver, A.A. Milne, was already more than a decade into his literary career when he had his son, Christopher Robin. He was a humorist and a novelist and spent his free time playing cricket with the likes of J.M. Barrie—creator of Peter Pan—and Arthur Conan Doyle—creator of Sherlock Holmes.

But it was on his son Christopher Robin's first birthday that Milne would take a trip to Harrod's department store to buy a gift—a gift that would cement his legacy in literary history.

Milne bought his son an Alpha Farnell teddy bear, which young Christopher Robin would name... Edward. (Though Milne's beloved Winnie-the-Pooh stories were based on his son's imaginative playtime with his stuffed animals, the name was taken from a Canadian black bear named Winnipeg at the London Zoo.)

Though the first Pooh story wouldn't be published until 1925, fans have declared Pooh's birthday to be Aug. 21st, 1921, when he was first gifted to Christopher Robin.

From that fateful day, this simple gift of a department store bear has spawned a series of beloved children's books, an Oscar-winning series of animated films from Disney (whose first short, Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, would be the last short produced by Walt Disney himself, who died less than a year after its release), theme park attractions across the globe, political controversy in China, and some of the wildest Soviet cartoons you've ever seen.

This simple teddy bear gift from 1921 led to a touching and sentimental gift from one U.K. royal to another.

For all the strife amongst the Royal family now, there's no denying the affection Prince Harry has for his nieces and nephews. For Prince Louis's christening, Harry wanted a gift that had not just monetary value but sentimental value as well, so his thoughts turned to his own childhood and his mother, Diana.

"She loved all the old classics, and Harry had the brilliant idea of starting a little library of first editions for Louis, Charlotte, and George to enjoy as they get older," The Mirror reported. So Harry sought out a first edition of A.A. Milne's stories, finding them "suitable for a first tome." The prince reportedly spent 8,000 pounds to secure the storybook for his royal nephew.

Inspiring a storybook that one prince pays 8,000 pounds to give to another? It's not bad for a little gift teddy bear bought at a department store.

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