Camilla Parker-Bowles starts 2021 with the launch of a new book club that hopes to entice people to read more. The Duchess of Cornwall unveiled the Reading Room, a new online community for booklovers of all ages and abilities.
According to Vanity Fair, the inspiration to launch a book club came after Prince Charles' wife released a list of books to read during the pandemic lockdown in April 2020. Camilla's suggestions were so well received that she came up with another list for summer reading in August.
Camilla will then continue sharing her book choices via the Reading Room, and royal fans could expect her latest list for the winter season by Jan. 15. The initiative has its very own Instagram account @duchessofcornwallsreadingroom, where the authors will also get to speak and share their insights about their creative work.
The Reading Room on Instagram launched on New Year's Day with its first recommendation featuring Charlie Mackesy's The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse.
Camilla's passion for reading has made her the royal patron of a number of literacy groups, such as the National Literacy Trust, BookTrust, Coram Beanstalk, and FS Books. She is the first member of the British royal family to have her own book club, following high-profile personalities like Oprah Winfrey, Emma Watson, and Reese Witherspoon. Endorsements from these celebrities have been proven to influence book sales.
Sources from Clarence House said that the Duchess of Cornwall established the Reading Room to spread awareness on the many benefits of reading to a person's social, emotional, and educational wellbeing. Camilla's goal is to "put more books into the hands of more people."
Prince Charles' wife is also getting more comfortable using social media platforms to promote her advocacies. Prior to the pandemic, Camilla was not a big fan of the internet, but she had to master the digital landscape when many of their royal work shifted online because of the lockdowns.
In November, however, the Duchess of Cornwall was the target of online trolls because of The Crown season 4. Clarence House had to turn off the comments section of their official Instagram account to discourage cyberbullying. However, Daily Express noted that the Reading Room's comments have yet to be deactivated.
Meanwhile, the online book club will be quite an informal setting, which will allow the people to get to know the future Queen Consort on a more personal level. Observers said that Camilla and Prince Charles are open to operating in this manner to be more approachable to the public.
