Robert and Edward Kennedy, Open the Children’s Zoo in Regent’s Park

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Robert and Edward Kennedy, open the children’s zoo in Regent’s Park

On this date, Robert and Edward Kennedy, the youngest sons of Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., then U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, opened the Children’s Zoo in Regent’s Park, London.

One of the zoo’s most popular attractions was a chimpanzee tea party, where children — for a sixpence fee — could watch chimpanzees dressed in clothes mimic a formal tea gathering. This whimsical and very British spectacle captured the public’s imagination and symbolized the blending of lighthearted entertainment with transatlantic charm during the Kennedy family’s high-profile diplomatic presence in Britain just before World War II