The event, held in Derbyshire’s historic Chatsworth House, marked the launch of the festival’s opening day for the Queen’s Reading Room – a charitable initiative Camilla founded after her pandemic‑era Instagram book club grew into a global community of millions across more than 180 countries.
In her speech, Camilla said the Reading Room was created out of a personal love for books and a desire to share that passion, noting that the project now donates thousands of books to women’s refuges and homeless shelters and supports research and recommendation exchanges worldwide.
Camilla’s remarks came amid renewed media attention on the royal family after Earl Spencer’s memoir about Princess Diana made a series of damning claims about King Charles, prompting an “unprecedented” response from Buckingham Palace that described the “pain of fraternal grief” as potentially clouding reason.
The queen also announced her participation in the forthcoming BBC Arts programme “The Book That Changed My Life”, scheduled to air on BBC Two on 14 October. The documentary will follow Camilla as she meets four individuals whose lives were transformed by reading at critical moments.
One of the featured participants, Ian Kirby of Gateshead, recounted how joining a local book club and reading the autobiography of boxer Glenn McCrory helped him emerge from depression after a traumatic home incident, illustrating the programme’s focus on resilience through literature.
BBC officials said the film will showcase stories ranging from prisoners finding solace in books to people overcoming deep depression through community reading, and will also explore emerging scientific evidence linking reading to improved health and wellbeing.
During the festival, Camilla, alongside journalist Reeta Chakrabarti and broadcaster Gyles Brandreth, revealed her four autumn reading recommendations – Finding Belle, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Whistler and Sashenka – and mingled with literary figures such as author Lee Child and novelist Elif Shafak in the Sculpture Gallery.
The documentary was first announced by Camilla at a Clarence House reception celebrating the fifth anniversary of the Queen’s Reading Room book club in March, underscoring her long‑standing commitment to promoting reading as a tool for personal and social betterment.