CAMILLA HITS THE WRITE NOTE

Hampton Court Palace provided the perfect setting for The Queen's Reading Room Festival as top authors and actors joined the literary celebration

- REBECCA RUSSELL

Queen Camilla has paved the way to be something of an unconventional consort in that she’s unafraid to highlight the most complex causes: domestic violence, gender equality and helping victims of sexual abuse. But in among the darkness of those topics is a light provided by her other passion – reading.

With every joy and heartbreak of the 76-year-old Queen’s life playing out like the storyline of a best-selling novel, it is understandable that her love of books has offered her an escape from the pressures of royal life.

And as The Queen’s Reading Room Festival returned to London with a bang for its second year, literary fans were in for a treat when a glittering line-up of authors and actors descended on Hampton Court Palace to celebrate the reach and influence of the written word.

The festival, which was attended by the Queen, sold an incredible 10,000 tickets and was a day filled with unique performances, talks by some of the UK’s leading authors and a wonderful finale involving Miriam Margolyes and Gyles Brandreth celebrating the life and work of Charles Dickens, as Queen Camilla, her son Tom Parker-Bowles and other members of the royal family watched on.

It was a joyous event, and one which Camilla had a huge hand in organising, CEO of the Queen’s Reading Room charity, Vicki Perrin, exclusively tells OK!.

“Whenever we meet to talk about what’s next for the Queen’s Reading Room, the level of detail and the passion that the Queen brings to it is impressive. You can really tell that this is her baby and that she cares so much about it.