The Duchess of Cornwall has joined forces with children's author and actor David Walliams to highlight the importance of young people reading and writing. Speaking over video call, David revealed that his seven-year-old son Alfred, whom he shares with ex-wife Lara Stone, has been coming up with story ideas, as they discussed the Queen's Commonwealth Essay Competition.
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WATCH: Camilla chats to David Walliams over video call
The Britain's Got Talent star told the Duchess: "He's coming up with ideas for stories all the time. I mean, they come thick and fast. So he's really into that and really into stories! He tends to choose other writers rather than me…"
The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition (QCEC) is the world's oldest international schools’ writing competition and has been managed by the Royal Commonwealth Society since 1883. For 2020, the theme of the QCEC is 'Climate Action and the Commonwealth'.
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© Clarence HouseCamilla and David spoke about the competition over a video call
Camilla explained: "You can tell it by poetry, you can write an essay, you can write a story." David added: "Really be as imaginative as you can. There's millions of children who could potentially enter this competition."
The competition, which was launched by the Duchess in New Zealand in November 2019, runs until 30 June. She said: "The year before I launched it in Ghana and it's very interesting the response I've had. The entries, after I was able to say something about it - they doubled! So that was very exciting. I hope this year they might treble and quadruple!"
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© Photo: Getty ImagesThe Duchess with last year's essay writing competition winners
David said: "Well it's never a better time, I think, to be writing or reading than this time. And I find, personally, that when I do creative work, it passes the time beautifully." The Duchess of Cornwall delivered words of encouragement before their call ended, saying: "We just want lots and lots and lots of these aspiring young writers to enter because, as you said before, some of their stories really are verging on brilliant."
The Royal Commonwealth Society shared a letter from the Duchess last month, which read: "As Vice-Patron of the Royal Commonwealth Society, I would like to encourage all aspiring young writers, who may be stuck at home during this difficult and challenging time, to put on your thinking caps, put pen to paper and enter The Queen's Commonwealth Essay Competition 2020." Camilla has been Vice-Patron of the RCS since 2018, while the Queen has been its patron since 1952.
Enter the competition at competitions.thercs.org/home.
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