WELCOME to the QUEEN'S READING ROOM
The charity and book club of Her Majesty Queen Camilla, championing literature in the UK and beyond.
Play VideoWith their extraordinary power to educate and inspire, books – from authors around the globe – have enriched my life since I was a child. 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.
~ Her Majesty Queen Camilla
The Queen’s Reading Room is the charity working to celebrate and promote the power and benefits of reading and is on a mission to help more people find and connect with books which enrich their lives.
It was formed from Her Majesty Queen Camilla’s book club, which launched in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The club quickly grew into a global online community, as we shared unique insights and conversations with authors selected by The Former Duchess of Cornwall.
Soon, we began to hear from people around the world – telling us that reading was making their lives better – and reinforcing our belief that books make us happier, healthier and better connected by boosting our mental health, brain health and social connectedness.
As a charity, we produce accessible, free educational content around literature 365 days a year through our social channels and website; as well as literary festivals and events; research and campaigns. Join us in reading the selected books each season, or delve into this website to discover reading recommendations, author interviews, never-before-seen archive and lots more. Find out more here and discover interviews with The Queen on her passion for books.
Friends of The Reading Room Recommend
Stay on your reading journey and be inspired by reading recommendations from your favourite authors and these lovers of literature
His Majesty King Charles III
Bonnie Garmus
Sebastian Faulks
Maggie Shipstead
Treasures from the Library
Explore some of the UK’s most important and rarely seen books and manuscripts
Books keep our minds fresh and our hearts open.
There is perhaps no greater exercise in empathy than reading a book: placing oneself in another’s shoes, travelling the world and meeting its people. Reading teaches us the value and power of our imagination, as our minds paint pictures to the words and conjure new worlds we may never have dreamed of. And when we realise that power, young or old, who knows what we can achieve. Finding a great book is special; but coming together over a shared love of a story is a very precious thing indeed.
Check out our Books page for stories to make your soul soar, expand your horizons, or simply provide a gentle comfort in times when the world seems dark. Read along with us on our Instagram page, where writers and readers interact, where the reading experience is enriched by education, and where the love of a great story is shared.
Find your next book
Click on each book to access background and exclusive content to enrich your reading experience.
Enjoy interviews with authors, historians, academics and experts.
Frankenstein
By Mary Shelley
Publish Date: 1818
One of the best-known Gothic novels, Frankenstein is both a haunting, uncanny novel about the dangers and temptations of scientific progress and an enduring investigation into what it means to be truly human. Obsessed by creating life itself, Victor Frankenstein…
Miss Benson’s Beetle
By Rachel Joyce
Publish Date: 2020 Awards: 2021 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize
It is 1950. In a devastating moment of clarity, Margery Benson abandons her dead-end job and advertises for an assistant to accompany her on an expedition. She is going to travel to the other side of the world to search…
Lady in Waiting
By Lady Glenconner
Publish Date: 2019
The remarkable life of Lady in Waiting to Princess Margaret who was also a Maid of Honour at the Queen’s Coronation. Anne Glenconner reveals her life of drama, tragedy and courage, with the wonderful wit and extraordinary resilience which define…
A Tale of Two Cities
By Charles Dickens
Publish Date: 1859
Vividly interweaving epic historical drama with personal tragedy, Dickens’s gripping novel depicts the lives of two very different men, Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer, as they become enmeshed through their…
