Camilla and the books that change lives: from Lady Chatterley to reading with Charles
Secret teenage reading, Dickens and the King’s laughter: in a BBC documentary, the Queen explains why books remain an essential part of her life.
Before the public initiatives and literary festivals, there was a teenager reading a forbidden novel in secret, by torchlight. This is one of the memories Queen Camilla shares in The Book That Changed My Life, a BBC documentary exploring how reading can support people and reshape their lives.
A book beneath the pillow
The novel was Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence. Published in 1928 and long surrounded by controversy over its content, it also represented a familiar teenage impulse for Camilla: discovering for herself what adults considered off limits. Her memory captures the sense of exploration that books can offer.
Another lasting favourite is Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities. Set between London and Paris during the French Revolution, the novel left a particular impression through its execution scenes and its ability to make a distant historical world feel vividly present.
Two readers in a quiet room
Reading still has a place in the royal couple’s daily routine. Before dinner, Camilla and Charles sit near each other, each absorbed in a book. The King enjoys biographies and the humour of P. G. Wodehouse, creator of Bertie Wooster and Jeeves. Sometimes his laughter breaks the silence and distracts Camilla from her own pages.
It is a familiar scene: sharing time without needing to read the same title. Books create a common space while allowing each reader to follow a different journey.
A love passed down
The Queen also recalls her father. Books helped him endure two years as a prisoner during the Second World War; later, he passed his love of reading on to his daughter. For Camilla, stories can provide comfort in difficult periods and offer a window into lives unlike our own.
From a personal pleasure to a shared commitment
That belief underpins The Queen’s Reading Room, founded in 2021. Its work promotes books through an online reading club, conversations and literary festivals. Partnerships also help bring books to people facing difficult circumstances, including homelessness.
The documentary, scheduled for BBC Two and BBC iPlayer on 14 October, focuses on people whose lives have been shaped by reading. Beyond the Queen’s favourite titles lies a wider invitation: finding a book, making time for it and discussing it with someone else can open a new relationship with the world.