Queen Camilla's love of reading and the benefits it confers are no secret, just ask her grandchildren.
"To me reading is a great adventure, I have loved it since I was very small and I would love everybody else to enjoy it as much as I do," she has said. "You can escape, and you can travel, and you can laugh and you can cry. Every type of emotion which humans experience is in a book."
Her faith in reading's escapist powers saw her launch an online book club in 2021 when the world was, quite literally, shackled by Covid-19. The initiative was such a huge success that in February 2023 it became a registered charity, The Queen's Reading Room.
The charity produces accessible, free educational content around literature, reading recommendations, author interviews and a never-before-seen archive. It also produces a festival described as being like "Glasto for book lovers" by none other than royalist raconteur and friend of the Queen, Gyles Brandreth.
“From murder mysteries to Miriam Margolyes, from poetry to Harry Potter, this is a literary festival like no other," Gyles told HELLO!
He should know, he was at Hampton Court Palace last June for the festival's debut, and in just over a week's time the festival is returning to the palace for its 'second chapter'.
Visitors will be able to explore the palace's sumptuous gardens, listen to poetry read by some of the country’s finest actors, including Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes and Dame Harriet Walter; and enjoy shows from starry festival headliners such as Miriam Margolyes, Harlan Coben, Mick Herron, Kate Mosse, Lee Child, Sir Ian Rankin, and even the cast of west-end hit show Operation Mincemeat.
Your chance to win
And now for the really exciting part... The HELLO! Royal Club (HELLO!'s club for its most devoted royal fans) has kindly been given five pairs of complimentary festival tickets by The Queen's Reading Room. To be in with a chance of winning a pair, all you need to do is become a member of The HELLO! Royal Club and register your interest in attending by sending an email to royalclub@hellomagazine.com before Wednesday 5 June at 12pm BST. More information on the club, and how to join, can be found in the fact box below.
NB. Only paid Royal Club members will be considered for the festival tickets
