Royals, they’re just like us. Speaking for an upcoming BBC documentary The Book That Changed My Life, Queen Camilla shared some tidbits about what life in the palace looks like for herself and husband King Charles III—and of course, it involves plenty of books.
“My husband and I actually read before dinner. We just like sitting quietly and reading,” the queen consort said in the documentary, which airs in full on Wednesday, October 14.
She noted that they take this pre-dinner routine quite seriously, and often have strong reactions to their books.
“I occasionally, when I’m deep in a book, hear him roaring with laughter about something. It’s very off-putting, I can’t get back into my book, or I’ll suddenly start weeping, but it’s a lovely, quiet time,” Camilla added.
A strong advocate for education and keeping books alive, Camilla shared, “I think it would be a complete and utter tragedy if books went forever. It’s part of our heritage, if there’s no reading, personally [I think] we might as well all give up. Because I don’t think we’d even be human any longer.”
Camilla and Charles met in 1970 and became romantically involved in 1972 before separating and marrying other people. (Camilla married Andrew Parker Bowles and Charles married Princess Diana.) The two resumed their relationship, while still married to their respective spouses, in 1986. And after years apart, they married in 2005. Charles and Camilla got coronated together in 2023, becoming king and queen consort of the United Kingdom and 14 other Commonwealth realms.