The Queen consort has turned her hand to podcasting as she seeks to foster a love of reading among a new audience and will follow in the footsteps of the Duchess of Sussex and Princess Eugenie as she launches her own literary podcast based on her online book club, the Queens Reading Room, on Jan 8.
She has promised to let listeners in on her all time favourite reads over the eight-part series.
Each episode will feature a segment from the Queen as well as an interview with a different guest, among them Sir Ian Rankin and Dame Joanna Lumley, who will share some of the books they cannot live without, from a bedside book stack or full-scale library.
Novelists Elif Shafak and Bonnie Garmus will share what life as a book-lover is like on the move, while childrens authors Joseph Coelho and Frank Cottrell-Boyce celebrate the special magic found only in books.
Other contributors include David Baddiel and celebrated US author Ann Patchett, who discuss their journeys through the literature that influenced their lives.
Guests will chat with Vicki Perrin, the CEO of The Queens Reading Room, about their relationship with reading.
Ms Perrin said: There is nothing quite like a brilliant book recommendation from a friend, but its even better when that person is one of your favourite authors or most admired persons.
I hope 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.
The Queens Reading Room has also announced that its literary festival will return to Hampton Court Palace on 8th June 2024 following the success of its inaugural event this summer.
The event saw theatrical performances from Dame Judi Dench and Austen improvisation group Austentatious and live shows with authors Ken Follett, Peter James and Kate Mosse.
The 2024 festival will once again gather authors, experts, actors and literature lovers for a day celebrating the written word.
The Queen consort 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 receiving 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 Queens name.
