The Duchess of Cornwall is
an avid reader, and like many of us, she has wondered about what it would be
like to meet her favourite fictional characters.
During a visit to Meta’s
new headquarters last week, the royal filmed a short video for those in her
book club, where she answered some questions that they had submitted. Among the
queries were which characters from literature would she like to host at a dinner
party, and she certainly had a surprising response. “Well I’ve got quite
an extraordinary mixture,” she explained.
“I’d have the Count of
Monte Cristo. Then I’d have two rather devious characters to spice up the whole
thing. I’d have Mrs. Danvers, dressed in black, and I’d have Count Fosco
from The Woman in White. I think they’d cause quite a lot of trouble and I
wanted somebody a bit different.”
She added: “Then I’d have
a heroine of mine, Elizabeth Bennett. Just a good strong woman to keep the show
on the road, so to speak. And then I’d have Uncle Matthew from the Pursuit
of Love, probably with his entrenching tool to keep everyone under control.
“[There are] A lot more
people I’d like to have but I think that would be a very good mixture.”
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The Duchess is an avid reader
She also spoke about the
importance of literacy for young children, as she explained: “Obviously
you’ve got to learn to read first because if you can’t read, how are you going
to get on in life? You’re not going to be able to read signs, you’re not
going to be able to read application forms. You’ve got to learn to read from an
early age, I think it’s so important.
“The earlier you can
learn, the better. I think that’s very much a parent’s job, to get children
reading very young by reading to them.
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The Duchess recorded the video when she visited Meta’s new headquarters last week
“Because however young
you are, you absorb stories. The more stories you absorb, the more interested
you’re going to be in the future. I think for everybody, reading a story
can take you into so many different worlds.
“You can go to places you
thought you’d never get to. You can go to different countries. However
difficult things are, you can get away from them and go into your own world for
a bit. Just take yourself away from everything that’s annoying you and read a
book. I think it’s the most therapeutic thing you can do.
“After lockdown, especially,
when we were all in a world we didn’t understand. What better than to reach for
a book? So many people have started reading again which is really good
news.”
