She said it had been a “complete joy, privilege and pleasure” to translate her vision for the Reading Room into reality.
“Sitting down to interview the Queen for the podcast, I noticed that she didn’t speak from notes or rehearsed lines, she spoke so eloquently and from the heart, able to metaphorically pull down a whole host of books from a mental bookshelf and quote from them, talk about the characters she loved, the bits that had her on the edge of her seat,” she said.
“Her Majesty’s eyes sparkled when she spoke, as they do whenever we chat about books and what’s next for The Queen’s Reading Room. And of course, she did it all in one take!”
The Instagram book club reaches millions of people of all ages, nationalities and backgrounds, only 40 per cent of whom are based in the UK.
Ms Perrin said through its success, they had discovered how much people love connecting with others, particularly when sharing book recommendations.
“One of the loveliest comments Her Majesty regularly receives is that it’s one of the nicest, kindest and most positive places on the internet,” she added.
“One of the things that gives me the greatest pleasure is to hear from people who aren’t regular readers, or have lost their love of reading through a life event like the passing of a loved one; they tell us that The Queen’s Reading Room has helped them find the very first book which has ignited in them a love of reading, or that book which has touched something in their soul and got them reading again. What an immense privilege it is to help do that.”
