The Queen’s Reading Room has also announced that its literary festival will return to Hampton Court Palace on June 8 2024 following the success of the inaugural event this summer.
The event 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.
The festival will once again gather authors, experts, actors and literature lovers for a day celebrating the written word.
Vouchers that can be redeemed against the price of a day ticket on pre-sale in February 2024 are now available, with proceeds going towards the work of the Reading Room and Historic Royal Palaces.
A voracious reader
The Queen has long championed a love of reading and is patron of several literary charities including the National Literacy Trust and Book Aid International.
A voracious reader, she established the Reading Room in January 2021 after an overwhelming response to recommended reading lists she posted on Instagram during lockdown.
The initiative, which celebrates books and authors from all over the world, has grown into a 155,000-strong online global community in which book lovers can engage and debate.
Each season it recommends four titles ranging from classics to new titles, non fiction and poetry.
Every fortnight, one of the books is promoted with a booklist, photo diary and video from each featured author.
In February, it was announced that the initiative had become an independent charity, the first in the Queen’s name.
Princess Eugenie has released two series of the anti-slavery podcast Floodlight with friend Julia de Boinville.
The Duchess of Sussex released one series of her Spotify podcast Archetypes in 2022 before it was cancelled. The series explored the labels and stigmas attached to women and feminism.
