Camilla says there is ‘every kind of emotion’ in reading
Camilla is sharing her passion for reading with royal fans, officially launching today her own personal book club online. And she is doing so on Instagram, where readers, fans and critics are allowed to leave their opinions and comments despite the recent flurry of online hate experienced by the Duchess of Cornwall.
On November 24, Clarence House, Prince Charles and Camilla’s office, limited the ability to reply to the messages shared on the royals’ Twitter account only to those they follow or mention.
The palace chose not to comment on the reason behind this move.
However, the comments were turned off after Charles and Camilla appeared to have started experiencing an increase in the number of hate comments.
The prince and duchess’ Twitter account remains off-limits for people who want to comment on its content.
Camilla is sharing her passion for reading with royal fans (Image: GETTY)
Camilla has launched her personal book club today (Image: INSTAGRAM/THE READING ROOM)
On the other hand, the possibility to leave a comment was never limited on the Clarence House Instagram page.
Similarly, the Duchess appears to have chosen to let people comment on the account dedicated to her new initiative.
Her online book club can be found on The Reading Room Instagram account, officially opened on December 31.
So far, the messages shared ahead of today’s launch have been widely welcomed by the public, and Camilla has been showered with praise for providing inspiration to readers and highlighting the importance of literature in everyday life.
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Camilla said she has always been an avid reader (Image: INSTAGRAM/THE READING ROOM)
The two posts shared earlier today to officially open the book club have already been liked by thousands of Instagram users and commented in an overwhelmingly positive way by hundreds.
The first was a video in which Camilla welcomes readers to her “reading room”.
In the brief clip, she said: “Hello, and welcome to my reading room. To me, reading is a great adventure.
“I’ve loved it since I was very small and I’d love everybody else to enjoy it as much as I do.”
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Camilla is the patron of the National Literacy Trust (Image: INSTAGRAM/THE READING ROOM)
Camilla and Prince Charles’s Twitter account Clarence House is limiting the ability to comment (Image: GETTY)
In the second post shared this morning, Camilla revealed the four books Camilla has chosen for this season: “The Mirror & The Light by Hilary Mantel; Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens; Restless by William Boyd and The Architect’s Apprentice by Elif Shafak.
One social media user said to have been positively impressed by the choices made by the Duchess, commenting: “I was half expecting this to be a really stuffy highbrow list featuring the entire works of Shakespeare or the like but this is a very surprising accessible book selection!
“I loved Where The Crawdads Sing and look forward to reading the other books listed.”
Another said: “I’m SO excited about this Reading Room! Love all the work the Duchess of Cornwall is doing but, as a librarian, particularly the work around the books.
“I wish we would have the same here, in France. Anyway, I look forward to discovering all the treasures of your library, YRH.”
Camilla married Prince Charles in 2005 (Image: EXPRESS)
Camilla’s video was also shared by Clarence House on Twitter – but comments remained off there.
Two Twitter users identifying themselves as fans of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex commented on this move by “quote tweeting” the video.
One simply wrote “comments off” with an emoji sticking out its tongue, while the second added “they are scared”, possibly referring to the recent criticism experienced by Charles and Camilla.
Since joining the Royal Family, Camilla has worked to raise the country’s interest in literacy and reading.
Two of the four books Camilla has recommended for this season (Image: INSTAGRAM/THE READING ROOM)
In November 2010 she became the patron of the National Literacy Trust.
Camilla is also a supporter of other organisations focused on reading and literacy such as the Book Trust, First Story, the Wicked Young Writer Awards and Beanstalk.
Owing to the pandemic, last year Camilla could not attend the Man Booker Prize for Fiction ceremony in person as she often does, but still marked her presence during the awards by sending a video message.
During 2020, Camilla also shared a few of her favourite books, hoping to be able to inspire people with her literary taste.
