> Zed Book Club / Queen Camilla Celebrated Her Love of Books by Having Some Embroidered on Her Coronation Gown
Queen Camilla poses for a photo in The Green Drawing Room of Buckingham Palace following the Coronation last weekend. The Queen is wearing Queen Mary's Crown and Robe of Estate. Photo: Hugo Burnand/Royal Household 2023 via AP/Canadian Press
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Queen Camilla Celebrated Her Love of Books by Having Some Embroidered on Her Coronation Gown
The Queen's coronation gown also featured tributes to her children, grandchildren and rescue dogs embroidered into it. / BY Mike Crisolago / May 9th, 2023
The newly crowned Queen Camilla loves books and reading so much that her literary devotion was added to her coronation gown.
On Saturday, as the Queen navigated Westminster Abbey for the coronation, alongside her husband, King Charles, onlookers noted the detail in her ivory, gold and silver gown, created by designer Bruce Oldfield — whose past work includes designing gowns for Queen Elizabeth II and Diana, Princess of Wales.
And among the embroidered images that the 72-year-old British designer added to the gown were some that depicted books.
“They were in silver, so they were quite hard to find, but they were there,” Oldfield told The Cut. “Those were the first thing that Her Majesty looked for.”
He added that, when the Queen saw them, she said: “Oh! There they are!”
Queen Camilla is, of course, passionate about literature and literacy. A patron and supporter of various book charities, organizations and events, the Queen began sharing her own reading lists at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic — which eventually morphed into The Duchess of Cornwall’s Reading Room, described as “a hub for literary communities around the world [that] celebrates literature in all its forms.”
Since becoming Queen, she launched The Queen’s Reading Room as a charity.
“With their extraordinary power to educate and inspire, books — from authors around the globe — have enriched my life since I was a child,” Queen Camilla notes on the organization’s website. “It has therefore been such a joy to watch my Reading Room grow over the years into a thriving book community. Now 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.”
As for her coronation dress, the Queen had other important elements of her life embroidered into the design as well, including the names of her children and grandchildren as well as two jack russell terriers to represent her rescue dogs, Beth and Bluebell.