'Nothing like a book to take you away' says Queen on third annual reading festival at Chatsworth

THE Queen revealed that reading has frequently offered her refuge as she met with a host of famous writers in Derbyshire on Friday.

- By MADDY BAILLIE

Despite battling a husky voice following her diagnosis with acute sinusitis and completing numerous engagements during Donald Trump's state visit, the Queen appeared thoroughly at ease as she addressed the audience at Chatsworth House to mark her cherished Reading Room charity launching its third annual festival.

Upon her entrance, Her Majesty was greeted by the festival's star speakers, including Bridgerton novelist Julia Quinn and Helen Fielding, the creative mind behind the Bridget Jones novels.

She subsequently toured the chapel at Chatsworth and engaged with survivors of domestic violence, alongside volunteers from the Elm Foundation, a regional charity that has recently joined forces with the Queen's Reading Room to explore the life-changing impact of literature and its ability to provide solace during challenging periods, reports the Express.

As Her Majesty was accompanied by neuroscientist Professor Sam Wass, she was overheard remarking: "There's nothing like a book to take you away," she said. “It helps so much with stress. You can shut yourself away with a book; it's a safe space.”

Camilla greeted famous faces including author and president of the Jane Austen Society Gill Hornby, author and TV presenter Richard Osman, and broadcaster and writer Gyles Brandreth.

As an avid, lifelong reader, the Queen established the Reading Room in January 2021.

Suggesting fresh titles each month, the initiative serves, in Queen Camilla's own words, as “a resource, a reassurance and a refuge to all book lovers”.