Queen Camilla is set to launch her own podcast in January.
The royal, 76, will join the ranks of Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and Sarah Ferguson to be the next member of the Firm with her own audio platform.
The podcast is launching through her charity, the ‘Reading Room’.
Her Majesty’s charity and book club, which she founded in 2021, aims to develop the appreciation of literature among adults and children in the UK and around the world.
The weekly podcast series – which she will herself co-host alongside the charity’s CEO Vicki Perrin, will feature guest including Sir Ian Rankin and Dame Joanna Lumley.
In a trailer for the upcoming podcast, Camilla looked glamorous in a navy blue frock and stunning gold jewellery, as she sat across from Vicki Perrin, who previously worked for Radio 2.
In addition to the eight-episode podcast, the charity has also confirmed that the Queen’s much anticipated Reading Room Festival will return to Hampton Court Palace on Saturday June 8 2024.
The literary festival will be the second of its kind, following its grand debut in June which saw theatrical performances from Dame Judi Dench and Austen improvisation group ‘Austentatious’, as well as live shows with authors Ken Follett, Peter James and Kate Mosse.
Camilla’s Reading Room charity started as a post-lockdown Instagram book club to share Her Majesty’s love or reading and literacy.
Officially opening in January 2021, it has now become an international charity and literary hub, and has gathered more than 160,000 followers in the process.
Available weekly from Monday January 8 2024, the Queen’s Reading Room Podcast will create a space where book lovers – and those who wish to connect more with books – can hear straight from the mouths of literary heroes.
Each week, celebrated authors, as well as stars of stage and screen will invite listeners inside their own reading rooms – whether that’s a bedside book stack or full scale library – to share some of the books they simply couldn’t live without.
The first series of the podcast features Rebus author Sir Ian Rankin, actress Dame Joanna Lumley, comedian David Baddiel and celebrated US author Ann Patchett who take us on their own personal journeys through the literature that influenced their lives.
Who does Sir Ian Rankin turn to for solace ? Where does David Baddiel stash his fiction and which masterpiece has Ann Patchett given up on again and again?
Novelists Elif Shafak and Bonnie Garmus share what life as a literature-lover is like on the move, while Children’s authors Joseph Coelho and Frank Cottrell-Boyce celebrates the special magic to be found only in books.
The brand new series will delve into the homes and hearts of the authors we love the most and will also feature contributions from Her Majesty Queen Camilla, who will let listeners in on some of her all-time favourite reads.
The podcast will be available on all podcasting platforms including Spotify and Apple Podcasts and will consist of eight episodes, with a bonus episode featuring lexicographer and Countdown star, Susie Dent.
CEO of The Queen’s Reading Room and podcast host Vicki Perrin said of the series: ‘There is nothing quite like a brilliant book recommendation from a friend, but it’s even better when that person is one of your favourite authors or most admired persons.
‘I hope that this podcast will inspire listeners to new literary adventures and help those wishing to love books a little more, find the books which set their imaginations alight’.
She will be hoping to fare better than her stepson and stepdaughter-in-law, whose £18million deal with Spotify ‘didn’t work’.
In October, the chief executive of Spotify suggested that Harry and Meghan’s £18million podcast deal collapsed because it failed to make consumers happy after the Sussexes made just 12 podcasts in two-and-a-half years.
Daniel Ek, who was making a rare media appearance almost four months after it was announced that the Archetypes podcast would not be renewed for a second season, admitted that some of Spotify’s innovative ideas have not gone to plan.
Meghan’s multi-million-pound Spotify deal was axed in June following a ‘mutual’ decision between the streaming giant and Archewell Audio – the Duchess and Prince Harry ‘s company.
Sources close to the multi-million pound deal – which was signed by the couple in 2020 – said it was was dropped after the pair did not produce enough content to warrant the full payout.
Shedding new light on the decision not to renew Harry and Meghan’s deal, Spotify boss Ek told the BBC : ‘We thought new innovation was needed to happen here. We thought we can come in and offer a great experience that both makes consumers very happy and allows new creators new avenues.’
He added: ‘And the truth of the matter is some of it has worked, some of it hasn’t. We’re learning from those and we are moving on and we wish all of the ones we didn’t renew with the best of success they can have going forward.’
