Queen Camilla is a voracious reader, and likes to read Harry Potter to her grandchildren – but struggles to mimic the voices.
It’s no secret that reading to your children or grandchildren is one of the most valuable things you can do, whether you go for a true classic bedtime story or one of the best personalised books for kids.
And the royals read stories to the younger members of the family, too, including Queen Camilla. Known for being an avid bookworm, she’s just launched a new podcast, The Queen’s Reading Room, in which she discusses some of her favourite titles.
One of her favourites might be surprising – it’s the classic young adult series Harry Potter. However, she revealed that her husband, King Charles, is much better than she is when it comes to mimicking the characters. Yep, the King can “do all the voices.”
When asked which books she likes reading to her grandchildren the most, Camilla said, “I think the one I enjoyed reading more than anything else was Harry Potter… all the stories.
“I can't mimic voices for love or money. I'm completely hopeless at it. I was a really bad actor at school and I've never been able to master the art of mimicry. But my husband, he does it brilliantly, he can do all the voices.”
Camilla is step-grandmother to Charles’ grandchildren. There’s Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis from Prince William and Kate Middleton, and then Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Meanwhile, Camilla’s son Tom Parker Bowles has a daughter, Lola, and a son, Frederick, while her daughter Laura Lopes has a daughter, Eliza, and twin sons, Gus and Louis. Last Christmas, Charles broke with tradition to invite them all to spend Christmas with the royals, too, so Camilla’s grandchildren would have had the chance to spend time with their royal cousins.
On each episode of the Queen’s podcast, there’s an opening segment from Camilla herself, before she interviews a guest. Among the guests are Sir Ian Rankin, Dame Joanna Lumley, and David Baddiel, while the first episode opened with crime author Peter James.
The Queen’s Reading Room is also a charity, which came out of Camilla’s book club, launched in 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, she isn’t the only royal to enjoy a good book. In November last year, Kate shared her favourite book to read with her children when they were younger.
While visiting Sebby’s Corner, a baby bank in northwest London, the Princess of Wales donated 50 copies of The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark, her favourite bedtime story to share with her children. And the future Queen even read the story during her appearance on CBeebies Bedtime Stories, as part of Children’s Mental Health Week.
In other royal news, this is the heartwarming birthday tradition Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis share with Kate Middleton and this is the one surprising difference that sets Prince George and Prince Louis apart.
