Senior royal could join ‘TikTok and become an influencer’

Queen Camilla could join TikTok in a bid to become a Book influencer, her friend has said.

The chief of The Queen’s Reading Room recently hinted that the wife of King Charles, could take a leaf out of Gen Z’s book by making a TikTok account to talk about books.

Speaking to The Telegraph, the chief executive of the queen’s Reading Room charity, Vicki Perrin, said she was delighted to be witnessing the increased interest in reading, as more readers take to the app to discuss their passion.

She added that there was nothing more important than engaging people in reading, no matter the type of books they read.

The 77-year-old grandmother, Camilla, would be the first royal to join the app publicly, after launching her podcast, The Queen’s Reading Room, in January

She said: ‘What’s so wonderful about BookTok is that you have people from all different walks of life saying, ‘This is a book that has moved me’, and that is so much more important than anything else.’

The 77-year-old grandmother, Camilla, would be the first royal to join the app publicly, after launching her podcast, The Queen’s Reading Room, in January.

The podcast was among the top 1 per cent in the world upon its launch, with royal fans eagerly tuning in to listen to the queen interviewing different guests.

Some of those to have been hosted on the popular podcast include Dame Joanna Lumley and Richard E Grant, who were interviewed by Camilla about the books they can’t live without.

The podcast Camilla currently reaches 12 million people in about 171 countries.

If Camilla was to pick up her device and launch a TikTok channel, it would be likely to engage a younger audience, who are already utilising the app for purposes akin to her own. 

The charity-cum-book club champions reading among generations across the world, aiming to promote and encourage interest in books and literacy. 

Started in during the Covid pandemic in 2021, the club aims to better mental and brain health by not only promoting reading, but also ‘social connectedness’.

The queen choose to grow her reading network after an extremely positive response to a recommended reading lists that she posted on Instagram during the UK lockdown.  

The Queen’s Reading Room website reads with a note from the queen. ‘With their extraordinary power to educate and inspire, books – from authors around the globe – have enriched my life since I was a child. 

‘It has therefore been such a joy to watch my Reading Room grow over the years into a thriving book community. 

The podcast was launched at the start of this year and is an audio version of Her Majesty’s popular online bookclub

Neil Gaiman, Peter James, Kate Mosse and Richard E Grant (pictured with Camilla in February 2023) are among the authors to have featured on the podcast 

The queen choose to grow her reading network after an extremely positive response to a recommended reading lists that she posted on Instagram during the UK lockdown 

‘Now a charity, I hope that we, together with our partners, can foster in adults and children alike a lifelong love of literature and connect more people with that special magic that can only be found in the leaves of a book.’

Speaking to the Mail earlier this year, CEO of the charity, Vikki, said: ‘Her Majesty has been really involved, she is such an extraordinary supporter of the arts and she understands the value of literary festivals and how precious they are in the UK.’

Camilla – who is renowned for her love of books -is said to have worked all year round for the charity which Vikki dubbed her ‘baby’. 

Ahead of the Reading Room festival at Hampton Court, which took place in July, Vikki said Camilla had been extremely dedicated to the festival. She said the queen ‘cares so much about getting it right and making it accessible and open to as many people as possible’.

Expanding it’s empire, the charity has even joined forces with researchers at Cambridge University to evaluate the impact of reading on the brain. 

Earlier this year, research completed alongside Camilla’s charity found that found that five minutes had the equivalent benefits to walking 10,000 steps.

At the weekend, Camilla will record two more episodes for her podcast while at the third annual Braemar Literary Festival, in Aberdeenshire.