The Queen Consort launches new literary charity

The Queen Consort has launched a new literary charity, The Queen’s Reading Room.

The launch, which took place at a reception hosted by The Queen’s Consort at Clarence House today (23rd February), marks the second anniversary of Her Majesty’s Instagram book club, which was established by the former Duchess of Cornwall in 2021. 

Her Majesty’s book club features a wide range of books selected by The Queen Consort, alongside author interviews, archive material, and readings by famous contributors. The charity said it seeks to close the gap between writers and readers by providing free literary content through its social media and online platforms. 

Guests at the reception marking the second anniversary of the book club included representatives from publishing houses and literacy charities of which Her Majesty was patron when Duchess of Cornwall, including Coram Beanstalk and Book Aid International.

The new charity will stage its first literary festival, "The Queen’s Reading Room Festival", at Hampton Court Palace on 11th June 2023. A programme and tickets will be released in March, and speakers will include Dame Judi Dench, David Olusoga, Kamila Shamsie, Austentatious, Ben Macintyre and Ken Follett. The festival announcement was accompanied by a video of Hampton Court Palace, featuring a reading of Shakespeare by Dame Judi Dench.

Her Majesty The Queen Consort said: “With their extraordinary power to educate and inspire, books – from authors around the globe – have enriched my life since I was a child. It has therefore been such a joy to watch my Reading Room grow over the years into a thriving book community. Now as a charity, I hope that we, together with our partners, can foster in adults and children alike a lifelong love of literature and connect more people with that special magic that can only be found in the leaves of a book.”

Trustee of the charity, Gyles Brandreth, said: “It’s exciting that Her Majesty has now established a new way to pursue her passion and commitment to literacy and literature. As everyone knows, she is a lifelong and enthusiastic reader and wants to help inspire children and adults alike in the UK — and around the world — to be so too. She literally wants to ‘spread the word’ – and that’s wonderful.”

Vicki Perrin, c.e.o. of The Queen’s Reading Room, said: “Her Majesty has seen first-hand over her years of work in the field of literacy, the power of books to change lives – if only the right book can be connected with the right person. That’s going to be our mission with The Queen’s Reading Room: to work with our literacy charity partners to help more people find and connect with books which enrich their lives and turn them into lifelong readers.”

John Barnes, chief executive of Historic Royal Palaces, said: “We are delighted to be hosting The Queen’s Reading Room Festival at Hampton Court Palace, which has witnessed important literary events in the past — William Shakespeare and his company performed in the Great Hall and the King James Bible was commissioned at Hampton Court in 1604 — and we’re looking forward to continuing its long connection with literature by welcoming a stellar line of up speakers from the arts and literary world to the palace in June.”