Queen Camilla will host a literary reception this coming week after a coronavirus diagnosis cancelled all planned activities last week.
Buckingham Palace announced that The Queen, who was forced to pull out of engagements last week with a ‘seasonal illness’ later to be revealed as COVID-19, will now host her literary reception on 23 February.
The reception will celebrate two years of The Reading Room, an online initiative The Queen started while still the Duchess of Cornwall. What began as sharing reading lists on the Clarence House Instagram account during the pandemic lockdowns turned into its own account with over 155,000 followers.
Buckingham Palace says, “The Reading Room celebrates books from around the world and the extraordinary people who create them, and The Queen Consort will be joined by storytellers who have inspired millions of readers.”
Also present at Queen Camilla’s reception will be representatives from literary patronages she has supported since her days as Duchess of Cornwall, including Coram Beanstalk and Book Aid International and representatives from publishing houses.
“To me, reading is a great adventure. I’ve loved it since I was very small,” Queen Camilla says in a video introducing The Reading Room on its official website. “I’d love everyone else to enjoy it as much as I do. You can escape, and you can travel, and you can laugh and you can cry. There’s every kind of emotion humans experience in a book.”
Queen Camilla’s Reading Room has shared ‘seasons’ of book recommendations since its launch and has featured lists curated by King Charles III, who shared five of his favourite books, and the Princess of Wales, who shared children’s book recommendations.
Queen Camilla has long championed literacy and literary organisations as a royal. She says this dates back to her early childhood “from my father who is probably the best read man I’ve come across anywhere… He read to us as children. He chose the books, and we listened. And I think it was his love of books which became ingrained in us, from such an early age.”
