Queen Camilla tonight endorsed new research which says 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.
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!’
Pioneering new neuroscientific research commissioned by the charity to determine whether there is a link between reading fiction and wellbeing suggests that reading for just five minutes can reduce stress, improve concentration and help people feel more connected.
Speaking to an audience including authors Philippa Gregory, Sir Michael Morpurgo, Bernadine Evaristo and Harlan Corben, as well as actors Helena Bonham Carter, Dame Joanna Lumley, Rupert Everett and Derek Jacobi at Clarence House, Camilla said: ‘It is a huge pleasure to welcome you to Clarence House this evening to mark the third anniversary of my Reading Room as a book club and its first as a charity.
‘This year is also the 125th anniversary of the birth of the late, great Sir Noel Coward. He was a brilliant and very funny man who, as a friend of The Queen Mother, came to many events here.
‘I doubt, however, that this reception will be quite as hair-raising as that in The Master’s song, ‘I went to a marvellous party’ with its wonderful lines: We knew the excitement was bound to begin When Laura got blind on Dubonnet and gin
And scratched her veneer with a Cartier pin I couldn’t have liked it more.’
Referring to the ‘shared love of good books that has brought us together this evening’, the Queen spoke of the need to ‘promote a passion for reading’.
‘And for that, there is no better inspiration than the man of the hour, Noel Coward, who left school at nine and attributed all his later learning to his membership of the Battersea Park Library and to reading everything he could lay his hands on,’ she said.
‘Thanks to all of you, the Reading Room is doing what it can to spread the word about how literature, quite simply, makes life better. Since it began three years ago, it has reached nearly 12 million people through all its platforms, produced more than a thousand pieces of educational literary content and had its inaugural festival at Hampton Court, attended by almost 8,000 people from as far afield as the United States, Canada, Northern Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
‘It’s also launched a podcast, which this year will take us into the ‘reading rooms’ of 32 captivating writers, actors and thinkers. And now, this first study sees us embarking on an important journey to understand the science behind the power of stories to enrich our lives.
‘This would not have been possible without all of you: your talents, your imagination, your originality, your support and, most of all, your profound love of the written word. ‘
The Queen noted that Noel Coward died 51 years ago today/yesterday – with a book in his hand.
‘It was by his favourite author, the children’s writer, E Nesbit, who famously once said, ‘There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books’,’ she said.
‘We share a very special bond, ladies and gentlemen – our love of books. Thank you for helping to spread the word. ‘
Dame Joanna Lumley said of The Queen’s Reading Room: ‘It’s like walking into a room with a packet of crisps when everyone is starving, people are ravenous for something and then they get hold of it and devour it. Thats why this book club has reached 12 million in three years, and that’s an extraordinary number. It’s like rock star stuff. And it will only get better.
‘I’d love to bring in some rules. No screens, you would have to sing loud at school, together, you have to read every day and you would have to go outside do something useful everyone day. But first of all I’d kill those screens.
‘Reading makes you feel less stressed, you go to a happy place, you never feel alone with book. And we have all discovered the same things are activated. And yet all we do is give children small screens. ‘
Asked about the way Camilla was keeping the royal show on the road recently, Dame Joanna added: ‘They [the royal family] are all extremely dutiful. It’s like the theatre, if someone is ill someone steps into their place, the understudy keeps the show going
‘She is the epitome of professionalism and public service. Everyone thinks she should be blubbing in a corner but this is not what these people are made of. And it’s something we should aspire to. If you sit alone feeling sorry for yourself you will feel sad and tragic. But if you get up and do something with a smile, then you feel better.’
American thriller writer Harlan Coben described the Queen as ‘very impressive’.
‘She’s. keeper, as we say in America.,’ he smiled.
‘She makes authors rock stars, how many queens do that?’
Crime writer Peter James, one of Camilla’s favourite writers, added: ‘She goes out there and bangs the drum for us. She does make writers feel like rock stars. And it comes from a very authentic place.’
Author Ken Follett said: ‘Reading helps you deal with stress, which is fascinating. But then you think about it and you realise that the characters you are reading about go through stress themselves elves, so when you read about things happening to them it kind of relaxes you.
‘We are so lucky in the book world that our Queen wants to promote reading and literacy. Really we are.’
Introduced to actress Helena Bonham Carter, Camilla greeted her warmly. The star referred to the King and Princess of Wales’ cancer battles, telling her: ‘I am so sorry another what you are all going through. Anything I, we can do to help, we will.’
The spent an hour chatting to authors, actors and neuroscientists and even got the chance to look through a microscope at a brain cell to learn more about the positive effects of reading.
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
