Her Majesty has visited Chatsworth House for ‘The Queen’s Reading Room Festival’ which is now in its third year. During the visit, The Queen met people participating in one of the charity’s grassroots outreach programmes, watched a performance of Jane Austen’s work, and joined a reception with literary figures taking part in the festival.
The Queen’s visit began with Her Majesty joining the conclusion of a discussion about the positive impact of reading on mental health supported by local domestic violence charity, The Elm Foundation, and neuroscientist, Professor Sam Wass.
As The Queen’s Reading Room Festival coincides with the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, The Queen viewed a performance of Austen’s work by author, Gill Hornby, and actor, Fiona Shaw, before viewing a selection of artefacts from the Jane Austen House museum.
The Queen’s Reading Room, launched by The Queen in 2023, is a charity celebrating and promoting the transformative power of books in the UK and beyond. The charity was born from an Instagram book club launched in lockdown of 2021.
During the visit, Her Majesty donated books to The Queen’s Reading Room Book Donation point. All books donated across the festival will be distributed to The Elm Foundation service users. Here, The Queen also met members of the public who were arriving for a showing of Pride and Prejudice on the lawns of the House.
The Queen later attended a reception with literary figures taking part in the festival including Jilly Cooper, Richard Osman, Jojo Moyes, Robert Harris, Rupert Everett, Alan Titchmarsh, Sebastian Faulks, Helen Fielding, Kathryn Drysdale and Julia Quinn.
Through neuroscientific research, the charity seeks to discover and celebrate the unique power of books to improve brain health, mental health and social connection. Its study using brain scans and skin conductance tests found that just five minutes of reading fiction both reduces stress by nearly 20% and improves the brain’s capacity to manage stress; all while boosting concentration and focus and reducing feelings of loneliness.
The Queen’s Reading Room seeks to promote the accessibility and joy of stories and storytelling, and it reaches more than 12 million people in 182 countries around the world each year with its free, educational content around books; as well as staging major festivals and events around the UK and internationally.
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