Queen Camilla chooses a thriller about the royal family being held hostage for her first book club choice
Queen Camilla has chosen a spicy novel that takes the royal family hostage to kick-start her book club.
The 76-year-old has delved into her literary favorites in a new podcast series: The Queen’s Reading Room.
And she’s made quite a surprising choice with the first novel to appear in her book club this year: The Lords’ Day by English author Lord Michael Dobbs.
The thriller explores themes of love and devotion after the country’s most powerful people, including the Queen and Prime Minister, are taken hostage during the State Opening of Parliament – an event Camilla witnesses first-hand.
In conversation with The TelegraphLord Dobbs, known for writing House of Cards, revealed he sent the novel to the royals on a whim, and in an ‘unexpected’ but ‘wonderful’ twist it was announced in the Queen’s book club line-up weeks later .
Queen Camilla has selected a surprising novel for her book club, which was once accused of inspiring terrorist ideas
In 2007, The Lord’s Day caused a stir for exposing lapses in parliamentary security, leading to Dobbs being accused of lending ideas to terrorist organisations.
Fast forward some 16 years, and The Queen has recognized the book alongside national favorites by the likes of Charles Dickens, Jane Austen and Ian McEwan.
Dobbs revealed that he had sent a copy of his book to King and Queen through his publisher. “I thought it would be kind of fun,” he said.
And the result was remarkable.
Speaking about Camilla’s decision, Dobbs said: ‘I think it shows how inclusive and open-minded she is. This is not a fussy traditionalist; this is a queen who has her eyes open to the modern world.’
Her Majesty is a bookworm who has used her royal role to promote reading and help improve national literacy.
Her Instagram book club, which has 167,000 followers, was set up after she shared some of her lockdown reading favorites during the pandemic.
It has since become a charity and launched its own annual literary festival at Hampton Court Palace, which will take place again next year on June 8. Now, in a royal first, the Queen will share her own ‘bookish treasures’ in an eight-episode series.
The thriller was written in 2007 by Lord Michael Dobbs (pictured) and he sent it to the royals for a bit of ‘fun’
The novel explores themes of love and devotion after the most influential people in the country are taken hostage
Camilla will present the show alongside a range of star guests including Dame Joanna Lumley, Sir Ian Rankin, David Baddiel, Elif Shafak and Countdown’s Susie Dent.
We hope the podcast will create a space where book lovers – and those who want to connect more with books – can hear straight from the mouths of literary heroes.
Chief executive of The Queen’s Reading Room and podcast host Vicki Perrin said: ‘There’s nothing like a brilliant book recommendation from a friend; but it’s even better if that person is one of your favorite authors or most admired people.
“I hope this podcast will inspire listeners to new literary adventures and help those who want to love books more find the books that spark their imagination.”
It comes after Camilla fell out over the decision to rewrite some of Roald Dahl’s most famous children’s classics, urging authors to push back against restrictions on their ‘freedom of expression’.
At a reception to mark the second anniversary of her popular online book club last year, Camilla told the gathered writers: “Please remain true to your calling, unhindered by those who may want to curb the freedom of your expression or place limits on your imagination . .’
The Queen explored some of her favorite novels in her podcast The Queen’s Reading Room
She looked up with a mischievous smile and added, “Enough said.”
Her comments were greeted with laughter and cheers of ‘hear-hear’ from dozens of famous figures from the literary world, including Simon Seabag Montefiore, Philippa Gregory, Ben Okri, Richard Osman, William Boyd, Philippa Gregory, Charlie Mackesy, Victoria Hislop and Sebastian Faulks .
The Queen Consort said to those present: “Let not your achievements be squeaked like mice, but only roared like a pack of lions.”
Although she did not directly reference Roald Dahl, it is clear that the current debate over publisher Puffin’s decision to employ sensitivity gurus to remove language they deem offensive in his works was very much on Camilla’s mind.
The row over “woke” revisionism has seen the removal of words like “fat” – August Gloop can only now be called “huge” – and the Oompa Loompas of Charlie and The Chocolate Factory have been made gender neutral.
Mrs. Twit’s “fearful ugliness” has been chopped into “ugliness” and Mrs. Hoppy in Esio Trot is not an “attractive middle-aged lady” but a “friendly middle-aged lady.”
Miss Trunchbull in Matilda, once a ‘most formidable woman’, is now a ‘most formidable woman’, while her ‘great horse face’ is now referred to simply as ‘her face’.
Fantastic Mr Fox’s three sons have become daughters.
Passages not written by the late author, who died in 1990, have also been added by the publisher to complete their new editions.
In The Witches, a paragraph describing them as bald under their wigs is shortly followed by another line: “There are plenty of other reasons why women might wear wigs and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that.”