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King Charles III

The Duchess of Cornwall throws open the doors of her online reading room

Camilla, The Duchess of Cornwall launches The Reading Room

The New Year was barely a few hours old before the Duchess of Cornwall shared news of a brand new project supporting a cause very close to her heart. Camilla has launched her own online reading forum as she continues to put the focus on the importance of literature.

The Duchess of Cornwall’s Reading Room was revealed on January 1st 2021. Announcing its arrival, Clarence House said the project would become a ”community space for all book lovers.” Camilla decided to set it up after the success of the reading lists she shared in 2020 as the pandemic took hold.

The Reading Room will provide book recommendations and also offer insights from authors themselves. Its Winter Season will be revealed in full on January 15th 2021.

The Reading Room’s logo with its royal motif
(Clarence House Instagram Still)

One book already in this royal room is ”The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse’ by Charlie Mackesy with the author joining the Duchess for an online chat as the project was revealed.

In a video on the Reading Room’s brand new Instagram page, Charlie Mackesy spoke to Camilla about the power he sees in the online community that springs up around books, adding that ”the art of writing is not easy and to hear authors talk about their journeys will make the books more interesting.”

The Duchess of Cornwall clearly relished her chance to interview the writer and illustrator, telling him ”I’m naturally inquisitive and I sort of want to know how it’s all happened and why it happened.”

You can find out more about The Duchess of Cornwall’s Reading Room on its Instagram page.

About author

Lydia Starbuck is Jubilee and Associate Editor at Royal Central and the main producer and presenter of the Royal Central Podcast and Royal Central Extra. Lydia is also a pen name of June Woolerton who is a journalist and writer with over twenty years experience in TV, radio, print and online. Her latest book, A History of British Royal Jubilees, is out now. Her new book, The Mysterious Death of Katherine Parr, will be published in March 2024. June is an award winning reporter, producer and editor. She's appeared on outlets including BBC 5 Live, BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Local Radio and has also helped set up a commercial radio station. June is also an accomplished writer with a wide range of material published online and in print. She is the author of two novels, published as e-books. She is also a marriage registrar and ceremony celebrant.