Queen recalls reading D.H. Lawrence's 'forbidden' novel as teen

Queen Camilla called reading It's like the best tonic in the world during a new BBC documentary, reflecting on how books shaped her education and life. The monarch shared personal reading habits and details of her five-year literacy campaign, which aims to combat adult illiteracy and screen addiction across the UK.

She and King Charles maintain a quiet pre-dinner routine, though their tastes differ. While she reads, he often laughs out loud at biographies and PG Wodehouse novels. Camilla admitted the interruptions break her concentration, but she cherishes the peaceful moments together.

At 79, the Queen noted that she left school early and never attended university, a common path for women of her generation. She credited books as her primary education, recalling how she devoured Charles Dickens and secretly read D.H. Lawrence’s controversial novel under her pillow by torchlight as a teenager in the 1960s.

The Queen said reading is "the best tonic in the world"

The documentary also explored how her father, Bruce Shand, used reading to endure two and a half years as a prisoner of war in North Africa during the Second World War. Camilla said she only understood his wartime trauma after reading his memoir, which revealed how he survived by reading everything from the Bible to encyclopedias.

Camilla with her father Bruce Shand in 2003, who she says "read and read" when he was a prisoner of war

Her current outreach efforts focus on a stark national issue: eight million UK adults struggle with basic literacy. The Queen’s Reading Room project hosts festivals and delivers books to homeless shelters, while the film highlights former prisoners and adults who learned to read through community programs. Big Issue founder John Bird praised the campaign for drawing public attention to a long-standing educational gap.

The program airs on BBC2 at 21.00 on 14 October and will be available on iPlayer.