QUEEN CAMILLA DISCUSSES READING HABITS IN NEW BBC DOCUMENTARY

Queen Camilla has spoken about her love of reading in an interview for the BBC Arts programme The Book That Changed My Life, due to air next week. She described reading as "like the best tonic in the world" and said it would be "a complete and utter tragedy if books went forever". Camilla also gave an account of King Charles's reading habits, saying the two read together quietly before dinner. She said the King favours biographies and sometimes "roars with laughter" while reading, which she said she finds "very off-putting" when trying to concentrate on her own book.

In the documentary, Camilla met four people whose lives she said had been changed by literature: a lorry driver, a former prisoner, a roadside cafe owner, and a man who experienced depression following an incident at home. She described the gathering, in a message delivered to a press preview, as "one of the most unusual book club meetings I have ever attended". Camilla also discussed the origins of her own interest in reading, saying she left school at a young age and that "reading has been most of my education". She credited her late father with reading to her as a child, saying this was where her "love of reading came from", starting with Treasure Island and Peter Pan.

The programme forms part of the BBC's Arts strand and explores the effect of books on people's lives through Camilla's conversations with the four featured guests. She said books "transported" her into "all sorts of other worlds" as a child and shaped her understanding of "people" and "life". The BBC has not yet given a specific broadcast date beyond confirming the documentary airs next week.