> Zed Book Club / Queen Camilla to Offer Weekly Reading Recommendations in New Queen’s Reading Room Podcast
Queen Camilla photographed while meeting with the founders of Book Bunk, a Kenyan charity that restores public libraries, on October 31, 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya. Photo: Samir Hussein/WireImage
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Queen Camilla to Offer Weekly Reading Recommendations in New Queen’s Reading Room Podcast
The Queen's Reading Room Podcast will feature Her Majesty's book picks as well as literary discussions with authors and celebrities every week. / BY Andrew Wright / December 15th, 2023
Royal fans who have followed Queen Camilla’s book club picks over the years will soon have the chance to hear Her Majesty’s royal recommendations in a new weekly podcast.
The Queen’s book club and charity, The Queen’s Reading Room, will launch its debut podcast on Jan. 8, calling on the royal (who won’t be hosting; that post is filled by QRR CEO Vicki Perring) to chime in with her literary favourites in each of the eight episodes.
According to The Queen’s Reading Room, the series “will create a space where book lovers – and those who wish to connect more with books – can hear straight from the mouths of literary heroes.”
The podcast will feature a lineup of celebrities and authors discussing literature in their homes, including authors Sir Ian Rankin, Ann Patchett, actor Dame Joanna Lumley and comedian David Baddiel, while lexicographer Susie Dent will have the last word (pun intended) in the podcast’s final episode.
Along with the podcast, the charity also announced the return of the Queen’s Reading Room Festival, which will be held at the Hampton Court Palace in London on June 8 of next year.
The festival’s debut this past June included theatrical performances from Dame Judi Dench and live shows with authors Ken Follett, Peter James and Kate Mosse.
The Queen’s Reading Room first launched as an Instagram book club during the pandemic in 2021 and expanded into a charity early this year with a focus on advancing education by promoting reading to adults and children.
As for the kind of recommendations readers can expect every week, Her Majesty’s love of reading doesn’t seem to be limited to any particular genre.
“All sorts!” she says when asked what kinds of books she likes to read in a Q&A featured on The Queen’s Reading Room website.
“I read a lot of fiction but I do have a lot of cookery books (though they usually get stolen by my son who is a cookery writer). But I like non-fiction too. A really great biography is a lovely thing to get stuck into.”
The podcast will be available on all podcasting platforms including Spotify and Apple Podcasts.