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A new BBC documentary is set to explore Queen Camilla and her late father’s love of literature and passion for books.
The announcement was made during a Clarence House reception, which celebrated the fifth anniversary of her Queen’s Reading Room book club.
The event was attended by the King and Hollywood stars Stanley Tucci, Sigourney Weaver and Booker Prize-winning novelist, Sir Ben Okri.
The inaugural recipients of the Queen’s Reading Room medal were announced with Selina Brown named the national winner for transforming lives through black British literature, while Liz Waterland was the local winner for services to literature in her community in Lincolnshire.
In a speech, the Queen described how her literary project was launched in lockdown to share her “lifelong conviction that books make life better” and has since grown into a festival, donated thousands of books and forged partnerships with organisations combatting domestic violence and homelessness.
“I’m also delighted to announce that we have partnered with the BBC and Blink Films for a major new documentary that will showcase the life-transforming power of books – my father’s and my own experience included – for which the cameras are filming here today,” said Camilla.
Queen Camilla places books in a donation point for The Queen’s Reading Room (PA)
The Queen is an avid reader and patron of a number of literary organisations, and inherited her love of books from her father Major Bruce Shand who also wrote about military history and published his war memoirs.
Major Shand served in the Second World War as a 12th Lancer, fought alongside the Desert Rats, received the Military Cross twice and was wounded and taken prisoner while fighting in North Africa.
In Spectator magazine, Camilla reportedly said about her father: “He read to us as children. He chose the books, and we listened.
“He was probably the best-read man I’ve come across anywhere. He devoured books.”
The documentary, due to be screened in the autumn, will feature Camilla reflecting on her passion for books, sharing the childhood experiences that first sparked her interest in reading and the comfort she still finds in books, the BBC has said.
Queen Camilla during a visit to Persephone Books, an independent publisher and bookshop founded in 1999, in Bath (PA)
The Queen will recount memories of her father and his experience being held in a German prisoner of war camp when reading reinforced a lifelong enthusiasm for the written word.
Among the guests were many writers including Jojo Moyes and broadcaster Richard Osman, and the Queen told her guests: “You are indeed dangerous people: you look into our hearts and souls to expose the unvarnished truth, with all the strengths and weaknesses of the human condition.
“You allow us to experience life through another’s eyes, you encourage us, you make us laugh, you make us cry, you take us on magical journeys and you create a community of book lovers that transcends almost any barrier.”
Other guests included author Jeffrey Archer, actor Sir Derek Jacobi and the Princess Royal’s husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence who was spotted having a long conversation with actresses Celia Imrie and Sigourney Weaver.
Weaver said the Queen’s encouragement of readers felt like a “personal” message to pick up a book and she had followed a recommendation from her Reading Room – The Far Pavilions, an epic novel of British-Indian history by MM Kaye.
Camilla speaks during a reception for authors, members of the literary community and representatives from the Queen’s Reading Room (PA)
The actress said: “Luckily I didn’t know how big it was because I read on Kindle and I’m having the best of time.”
The star of the Alien movies quoted a “shocking” statistic highlighted by the Queen’s Reading Room that only 50% of UK adults reads a book a year.
“As an American, as a New Yorker, I know the problem is worse in the US,” she added. “Adults are not reading to their children.
“Children can read a book and play the movie in their head rather than watch someone else’s video on a device.”
Selina Brown founded the Black British Book Festival in 2021 as a grassroots project that now reaches more than 100,000 people, has launched community libraries and through her Reading for Smiles programme has encouraged reading in primary schools with inclusive stories.
She said: “I started the book festival from my savings, with no blueprint, no background.
“I literally love books and I really want to give black British authors a platform to be celebrated and seen and acknowledged for their talent.”