Second World War<\/a> 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.<\/p>\nThe Queen recounted 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cA sniper shot him through his face, he was incredibly lucky because the bullet went in one side, out the other, didn\u2019t touch his tongue or his teeth,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
![\"Camilla](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/01M2XBBR4VYXMD086RPZPK2AFQ.jpg\")
Camilla spoke about where her passion for books originated (PA)<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was taken to a prisoner of war camp and incarcerated for two and a half years. Those places, there\u2019s not much to do unless you\u2019re plotting your escape.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo he said he educated himself because he read every single book, from the bible to the encyclopaedia, whatever was there, he just sat all day long and read, read, read, and that\u2019s, I think, how he survived it.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike all that generation, they never talked about the war. He buried it all because he\u2019d seen such horrendous things.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we never heard him speaking about his wartime experiences, but he wrote it all down in this book, Previous Engagements.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Queen read an excerpt from the book, then said: \u201cIt was written from the heart. I mean, I cried through most of it. I found it so moving, because I didn\u2019t know anything about it and reading managed to get him through it.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a message from the Queen delivered at a preview screening of the programme this week, she said books \u201chave certainly enriched my own life beyond measure\u201d.<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cWhile I find it impossible to point to a single title or author, or even to a single genre, that stands above others, reading for pleasure has helped entertain, comfort and inspire me in so many ways over the years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have long believed that books are in fact the very best form of escapism, transporting us to other places and into other lives \u2013 other hearts and minds \u2013 in ways that greatly enhance our own.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is why, five years ago, I launched my Queen\u2019s Reading Room, an online space I hoped would 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Camilla said it is her \u201cfondest hope that this film will build on that work, helping demonstrate to audiences around the world just what a difference reading has made to one particular group of people, each of whom has faced challenge or difficulty in their personal lives, and each of whom has been lifted up by the sheer joy and transformative power of reading\u201d.<\/p>\n
One of the documentary\u2019s contributors, Ian Kirby, from Gateshead, fell into a deep depression after a traumatic incident at home.<\/p>\n
He turned his life around after joining a local book club and picking up the autobiography of local boxing hero, Glenn McCrory, which offered a new perspective on his own experiences.<\/p>\n
Now he describes himself as living a rich and fulfilled life, with reading at the heart of his recovery.<\/p>\n
Speaking in the documentary, he says: \u201cThat is the beauty of a book. It can give you experiences you\u2019ve never experienced, but they can also be an inspiration.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Queen ended the documentary by saying \u201cbooks change people\u2019s lives\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Book That Changed My Life will air on BBC Two and iPlayer on October 14.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":369501,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,136427,122,124,123,136426],"class_list":["post-369500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-pa2026","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-the-book-that-changed-my-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=369500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369500\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/369501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=369500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=369500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=369500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Independent](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791597731_111_Independent+Membership+White.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"Camilla](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/01M4FX1MA65SJ2ZTQ42CXX7JMN.jpg\")
Camilla revealed Charles\u2019 fondness for biographies (PA)<\/p>\n