Queen Camilla joins forces with Peter Rabbit to help get young people reading

Queen Camilla fulfilled many of our childhood dreams when she spent the afternoon at Clarence House with Peter Rabbit. 

Queen Camilla hosted a reception at Clarence House to celebrate the 100th anniversary of BookTrust. 

While Beatrix Potter’s beloved Peter Rabbit was the star of the show, The Thursday Murder Club author and Pointless host Richard Osman, author, singer, and presenter Dame Floella Benjamin, and author Sir Philip Pullman all joined Her Majesty for the celebration. 

After meeting the famous garden resident, Queen Camilla cut an appropriately book-themed cake to celebrate the occasion. 

Peter Rabbit was not on hand to simply mingle with The Queen, but also to announce that a new book, Four Happy Bunnies, has been written for the Bookstart Baby scheme. The book will be given to half a million families with new babies to help encourage reading from a young age. 

Queen Camilla has long been a dedicated supporter of several literary organisations. She was named as the patron of BookTrust in 2011, following the Duke of Edinburgh in the role. 

The Queen spoke about how much of an impact reading in childhood has had on her life, explaining, ‘I wouldn’t be standing here now if I hadn’t been read to as a child. We were read to by my father every night and it just shows how important it is.’

The BookStart scheme aims to provide a free book pack to every child from 0 to 12 months in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.