United Kingdom: Queen Camilla has recalled secretly reading D.H. Lawrence’s controversial novel Lady Chatterley’s Lover as a teenager during the 1960s, describing how the appeal of forbidden literature shaped her early reading experiences.
Speaking in the BBC documentary The Book That Changed My Life, the 79-year-old Queen discussed her personal relationship with books and their influence on her education, family life and understanding of the world.
Camilla said she and other teenagers would read romance novels secretly, sometimes under their pillows by torchlight. She noted that the restrictions surrounding certain books made them more appealing to young readers.
How Has Reading Shaped the Queen’s Life?
Camilla described reading as “the best tonic in the world” and said she and King Charles III regularly spend quiet time reading before dinner. She said the King enjoys biographies and the comic novels of P.G. Wodehouse, while she has been particularly affected by the works of Charles Dickens.
She recalled being captivated by Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities, especially its depiction of the French Revolution. Camilla also said reading had formed a major part of her education because women in her generation had fewer opportunities to attend university.
The Queen discussed how books helped her father, Bruce Shand, cope with his experiences as a prisoner of war during the Second World War. She said he read extensively during his captivity and that his memoir later helped her understand the experiences he had rarely discussed.
Why Is the Queen Promoting Literacy?
The documentary explores how reading can help people cope with loneliness, imprisonment and other difficult circumstances. It features individuals who discovered the benefits of reading while in prison, recovering from bereavement or learning basic literacy skills as adults.
One participant described how joining a book group helped him recover from social isolation after his mother’s death. Another spoke about learning to read as an adult so he could read bedtime stories to his children.
The documentary also highlights the scale of adult literacy challenges in the United Kingdom, citing an estimate that eight million adults struggle with basic literacy.
Camilla has promoted reading through her Queen’s Reading Room initiative, which organises literary events and outreach projects, including efforts to make books accessible to people experiencing homelessness. The campaign aims to encourage reading and highlight its potential benefits for education and well-being.