The Queen was among senior royals getting on with the day job as she opened a new school library today.
Amid the continuing fall-out over her brother-in-law Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, Camilla was in Camden, north London, to open the 2000th new ‘Coronation Library’ for primary pupils, part of the living legacy dedicated to Their Majesties’ accession to the throne.
Queen Camilla, patron of the National Literacy Trust, has made the encouragement of reading a cornerstone of her public work and appeared delighted to see so many youngsters enthused by the new addition to Christ Church Primary School.
‘So you all enjoy reading then? How brilliant. And are you all budding librarians then?’ she asked pupil librarians from a number of local primary schools who were taking part in a classroom workshop.
‘Thank you so much for sharing your stories with me.’
The school visit, which comes at a turbulent time for the Royal Family, marks the first Coronation Library to open in a school during the 2026 National Year of Reading, a Department of Educational and National Literacy Trust initiative which aims to reconnect people of all ages with a love of books.
Accompanied by executive headteacher Lee Duffy and author Tola Okogwu, the royal first met with the pupil librarians before joining an interactive assembly with Key Stage Two students led by another children’s author, Chris Smith.
Sitting on the stage, Camilla beamed as he encouraged the youngsters to come up with ideas for a mystery centred around a sandwich. Dozens of excited hands shot into the air wanting to contribute to the initiative.
Dressed in a brown cashmere coat by Anna Valentine with a favourite eye-catching £7,000 Jack Russell dog brooch by Van Cleef and Arpels, the Queen then met reception-aged youngsters who were discussing their favourite books.
Noting one of the themes, she asked one youngster: ‘Are you a dangerous dinosaur then?’ before hunkering down on her knees to chat.
She was also given a special book containing pupils’ drawings of their favourite book covers created with author and illustrator Sophy Henn, who said she had been overwhelmed by their creativity and enthusiasm.
The royal was then joined by Year Four pupils Nwanneka, Siva and Wren to officially open their new library.
‘It must be very exciting to have this space now,’ she said.
One of the children said: ‘I’ve seen Little Women, which I am dying to read!’ ‘That’s a lovely one. I read it a very long time ago,’ Camilla replied. ‘You have books for every age. ‘
Afterwards she unveiled a plaque to mark the library’s opening before being given a posy and walking through two lines of flag-waving and cheering youngsters.
Headmaster Mr Duffy said the visit had been thrilling for the children. ‘You can see how inspired they are.
‘Reading is a gateway to so many things and opens doors for the future. If we don’t get this right, there’s a lot of [other] things that won’t go right as well.
‘We are doing a lot as a school to encourage and enthuse that passion from an early age,’ he said.
Christ Church Primary School teaches approximately 230 pupils between the ages of 3 and 11 and supports high numbers of children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, with 50 per cent of pupils eligible for free school meals – twice the national average.
The National Literacy Trust is an independent charity that empowers children, young people and adults with the literacy skills they need to succeed.
