Queen Camilla chatted to TV host and daughter of former US president George W Bush, Jenna Bush Hager, in a rare TV interview shown on US TV this morning
Queen Camilla chats to Jenna Bush Hager at the New York Public Library(Image: Supplied)
The Queen hailed the US state visit as ‘wonderful’ and told Americans to “keep reading” in a personal message during a rare TV interview.
Camilla issued her message as she chatted to TV host Jenna Bush Hager, the daughter of former US president George W Bush, during her visit to the New York Public Library yesterday.
At the library, Camilla attended an event linked to her Reading Room charity, read an excerpt of Winnie the Pooh to schoolchildren and also presented a ‘Roo’ doll to add to the library’s Winnie-the-Pooh collection of toys. It came after Camilla spent two days in Washington DC alongside King Charles with US president Donald Trump – with their state visit marking the 250th anniversary of US independence.
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The TODAY host greets the Queen (Image: Supplied)
The Queen told Bush Hager the state visit had been “good fun” adding: “It’s been wonderful, and everybody’s been very kind and welcoming. Well, it’s always a pleasure to be here. Always, always lovely to be back in New York again.”
And when asked what her message to America is on the 250th anniversary of the nation, Camilla, known for her love of books, said: “Well, I’d like to say, keep reading. I think it’s very important, and you know, specialist statistics are showing reading is falling in children. We’ve got to find a way of bringing it up.”
During the chat, shown on NBC’s TODAY show this morning, Camilla told the host, who also runs a book club and credits her mother former first lady Laura Bush for her love of reading, that it was her father, Major Bruce Shand, who inspired her.
The Queen said: “Oh, but he was wonderful. He used to sit at the end of our beds every night and read us these incredibly exciting stories, some of them quite frightening, pillows over our head, but he just gave us this incredible interest.”
The two women share a love of books(Image: Supplied)
Meanwhile, Bush Hager also spoke of her full circle moment seeing Camilla, after their first meeting in 2005. On Camilla’s first trip to the United States as a member of the Royal Family in 2005, she and King Charles, then the Prince of Wales, had dinner with President George W Bush and wife, Laura, as well as Bush Hager, her now husband Henry and her sister Barbara. The TV host told the Queen: “I love it that we can be back together” and Camilla replied: “And loving books.”
Today, the King and Queen will end their four-day state visit, which is Charles’ first trip to the US as monarch. The royal couple will travel to Virginia to join residents at a “block-party” featuring food and entertainment to celebrate America, the creation of the nation’s Founding Fathers described by Charles in his Congress address as “bold and imaginative rebels with a cause”.
In one of America’s national parks, the King will meet one of the area’s indigenous communities and people involved in conservation initiatives and efforts to protect the natural environment.
Separately, the Queen will visit a farm to highlight the work of America’s horse racing industry and the long-term links with the sport in the UK.
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