Queen Camilla showed her love of the Harry Potter series as she made a surprise appearance at the Charleston Festival in Firle, Sussex.
The royal, 76, arrived on Thursday morning carrying a large transparent umbrella to face the rainy weather, before giving a speech at the ‘Power of Reading’ event.
The event, which also features children’s laureate Joseph Coelho, Sir Lenny Henry, Jacqueline Wilson, Francesca Simon and Jenny Agutter, had promised on its website that a ‘very special surprise guest’ would be attending.
The audience was delighted when they unexpectedly found themselves in royal company.
While speaking to excited schoolchildren, Camilla was asked which fictional place she would like to travel to and why.
Queen Camilla, patron of the Charleston Trust, gave a speech during a surprise appearance at the Sussex festival on Thursday
The royal, 76, arrived carrying a large transparent umbrella to face the rainy weather
Queen Camilla was welcomed to the event by actress Jenny Agutter for the ‘Power of Reading’ event
Queen Camilla also met with British actor and comedian Lenny Henry (R) during the surprise appearance at the opening session of the Charleston Festival
The Queen was quick to respond that she would love to go to Hogwarts in the Harry Potter series.
She responded, as reported in The Argus paper: ‘One place I think I’d love to go is Hogwarts.
‘I’d like to jump on the Express and sit in that wonderful hall and pick a house. I’d like to look at Dumbledore and Hagrid and Snape and the food flying about, I think it would be a magical experience.’
Camilla looked elegant in an eye-catching green dress with a peacock feather pattern and matching green scarf.
She added a light beige coat for the surprise appearance, which was met with rainy weather.
Book-lover Camilla was also spotted chatting to comedian Lenny Henry and children’s author Jacqueline Wilson.
The audience were in for a treat with the royal visit, and hearing from the likes of Tracy Beaker author Jacqueline Wilson and Francesca Simon, who wrote Horrid Henry.
The Charleston Trust festival aims to bring together today’s most exciting artists, thinkers and changemakers to engage with art and ideas.
Book-lover Camilla was also spotted chatting to comedian Lenny Henry and children’s author Jacqueline Wilson
The audience was delighted when they unexpectedly found themselves in royal company
Camilla looked elegant in an eye-catching green dress with a peacock feather pattern and matching green scarf
Camilla, who is patron of the Charleston Trust, joined the opening event the ‘Power of Reading’, for which tickets cost between £10 and £25.
It aims to celebrate the power of books and reading for children and young people – something which the Queen has tirelessly shown commitment for.
Camilla is an avid reader, patron of a number of literary organisations and has been supporting the children’s writing competition since 2015.
Only in March she endorsed new research that said five minutes of reading a day is as valuable to health and wellbeing as walking 10,000 steps and eating five portions of fruit and vegetables.
Author Joseph Coelho, author Francesca Simon, novelist Jacqueline Wilson and actor and comedian Lenny Henry sit on the stage as Queen Camilla makes a surprise appearance
Queen Camilla, patron of the Charleston Trust, is welcomed by actress Jenny Agutter
In a speech to mark the third anniversary of her book club, The Queen’s Reading Room, as well as its first as a registered charity, Her Majesty said: ‘In addition to our five a day and our 10,000 steps, we should all be aiming for at least 5 minutes of reading every day for invaluable benefits for brain health and mental well-being.
‘Just as we always suspected, books are good for us – and now science is proving us right!’
Camilla has previously told how her love of reading began as a child when her father would read bedtime stories to her.
She explained how her father Bruce Shand, an avid reader, used to read books to her and her siblings before their bedtime.
‘When we were children at night he would sit at the bottom of our beds and read us stories, every sort of story you could imagine,’ she recounted, as she held a reception at Buckingham Palace for the BBC’s 500 Words in February.
