Queen Camilla has revealed how King Charles’ laughter can interrupt their quiet reading time before dinner. She shares the domestic detail in the forthcoming BBC documentary The Book That Changed My Life.
The couple like settling down with their books before their evening meal. However, Charles sometimes finds something funny enough to break Camilla’s concentration.
Queen Camilla reveals King Charles’ reading habit
Camilla described what happens when she’s absorbed in a book: “I occasionally, when I’m deep in a book, hear him roaring with laughter about something.”
For the queen, returning to the page isn’t always easy afterwards.
“It’s very off-putting, I can’t get back into my book,” she admitted.
Camilla also mentioned sometimes becoming tearful while reading. Despite those interruptions and emotional moments, she described their shared reading time warmly.
It’s a quiet part of their evening that they both enjoy. Her comments offer a personal glimpse of the couple through an interest she has championed publicly for years.
Queen Camilla recalls her teenage reading adventures
The documentary also takes Camilla back to her teenage years in the 1960s. Her reading choices then included D.H. Lawrence’s once-controversial novel Lady Chatterley’s Lover.
She recalled teenagers reading romances, with forbidden books holding a particular appeal.
Her memories included keeping the novel under her pillow and reading it by torchlight.
Camilla explained that being told something was forbidden made young readers want to get hold of it.
Her memories aren’t limited to secretly reading novels, either. She recalled leaving school young and described university as unusual for women in her day.
That made books especially important to her learning. Camilla said she thought reading had provided most of her education.
Queen Camilla’s Reading Room and her warning about books
Alongside those personal memories, Camilla voiced concern about a future without books.
“I think it would be a complete and utter tragedy if books went forever,” she said.
She described reading as part of our heritage and something fundamental to being human, rather than simply a pastime.
Camilla launched her Reading Room book club in January 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has continued since then and is now a charity.
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On the Queen’s Reading Room website, she credits authors from around the world with enriching her life since childhood. She also celebrates the community that has grown around the project.
Her hope is that the charity and its partners encourage adults and children to develop a lasting love of literature. Connecting more people with books remains central to that ambition.
The Book That Changed My Life is due to air on the BBC on Wednesday October 14.
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