This is the sweet moment Queen Camilla met her ‘biggest fan’, before joking she was ‘horrified’ with her guest for not taking a bow.
Her Majesty hosted some of the world’s top authors at her second annual Reading Room Literary festival, which took place at Hampton Court Palace in South West London yesterday.
During the aftermath, American thriller writer Harlan Coben introduced the Queen to her ‘biggest fan’ New York Times bestselling author Emily Giffin, who proclaimed it was ‘an honour of a lifetime’ to meet the royal.
The 11-time best selling writer also revealed she had ‘slept on the streets’ just to get a glimpse of the Queen during her coronation in May 2023.
Upon meeting the royal she took a bow, before apologising on behalf of Harlan for failing to do the same. Revealing her down to earth nature, Camilla quipped she too would be ‘horrified’ if she was Emily, before bursting into a sweet giggle.
This is the sweet moment Queen Camilla met her ‘biggest fan’, New York Times bestselling author Emily Giffin (pictured: Queen Camilla with American thriller writer Harlan Coben and author Emily Giffin)
The 11-time best selling writer proclaimed it was ‘an honour of a lifetime’ to meet the royal
Sparking the conversation was Harlan Coben, who said to the Queen: ‘I just want to introduce you to number one New York Times best selling author Emily Giffin who is your biggest fan – and she is so excited to meet you’.
‘It is an honour of a lifetime’ added Emily. ‘I came over for your Coronation. I just so admire you’ she continued.
Stunned by such dedication, Camilla asked ‘you came over?’ to which Emily replied ‘Yes I slept on the street for two nights… it was an honour of my lifetime’.
The author then went on to thank the Queen for hosting the festival and for ‘all the wonderful work you do’.
But things took a hilarious turn when Emily shared she had once trained Harlan on the customs of the British Royal Family, most notably bowing etiquette.
When Harlan conceded he ‘messed up’ when it came to remembering the rules, Emily took it upon herself to apologise for his slip up.
‘He’s very sorry that he didn’t bow before he shook your hand’ she said. The pair then burst into what sounded like nervous laughter.
Camilla then quipped: ‘I’d be horrified if I was you’ and launched into a little giggle of her own.
Upon meeting the royal she took a bow, before apologising on behalf of Harlan for failing to do the same. Revealing her fun nature, Camilla quipped she too would be ‘horrified’ if she was Emily
Emily shared she had once trained Harlan on the customs of the British Royal Family, most notably bowing etiquette
The Queen is pictured attending her second annual Reading Room Literary festival, which took place at Hampton Court Palace in South West London yesterday
Queen Camilla was involved in ‘every aspect’ of her literacy festival at Hampton Court yesterday.
The Queen’s annual Reading Room festival took place on Saturday June, 8 and was founded by Her Majesty as an independent charity to promote reading and literacy in the UK and globally.
A year on from it’s inaugural edition – which played host to King Charles, Sir Derek Jacobi, Richard E Grant and Dame Joanna Lumley – and the Queen is said to have worked ‘all year round’ to ensure it is of excellent standard.
This year the Queen met with authors and spoke with Harlan Coben, Emily Giffin, Lee Child and Miriam Margolyes among others.
She also had discussions about her busy week attending D-Day commemorations in France and King Charles’ health.
This year the Queen met with authors and spoke with Harlan Coben, Emily Giffin, Lee Child and Miriam Margolyes among others
Camilla looked stunning in a floor-length navy blue gown with three-quarter sleeves and zip detailing
Vicki Perrin, CEO of Her Majesty’s The Queen’s Reading Room literacy charity shed light on what the festival means to the Queen, while fondly referring to it as her ‘baby’.
Speaking to the Mail this week, she said: ‘Her Majesty has been really involved, she is such an extraordinary supporter of the arts and she understands the value of literary festivals and how precious they are in the UK.
‘She and I have been working on this for a year to shape it into the best event it can possibly be. We have bounced ideas around, who should appear, who should talk to whom, which actors can get involved, what authors we should cover.
‘It’s very much her baby. She’s always asking me “how many tickets are we at now?” – and looks like we will fill 10,000 seats on Saturday, which is amazing.
‘She cares so much about getting it right and making it accessible and open to as many people as possible’.
The Queen’s Reading Room festival sold out within ten hours and was forced to move to a bigger capacity.
