Queen Camilla has an enviable handbag collection, ranging from Dior to Bottega Veneta to Chanel. Anyone would be tempted to swipe a classic top handle bag or an evening clutch from her closet. At a recent royal engagement, Queen Camilla gave us a peek at what she keeps inside her handbags that has made us all love her even more. It isn’t a Clarins Lip Perfector or a silk handkerchief, but something much more relatable.
On a visit to St. Mungo’s, a homelessness support charity in London, Queen Camilla revealed that she almost always has a book in her handbag. Speaking to morning talk show broadcaster Lorraine Kelly, Kelly told the Queen “I’ve always got a book in my bag,” to which Queen Camilla enthusiastically replied, “so have I.”
For the special visit, which focused on the connection between literacy and homelessness support, Queen Camilla donated 20 books to the facility from her own bookshelf of favorites. The books included popular titles such as Wuthering Heights (is Queen Camilla Team a fan of Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights, one wonders?), War Horse, A Gentleman in Moscow and Black Beauty. “Books do so much for people,” the Queen said during the visit. “It is a wonderful way of escapism and taking them out of their life and into another one.”
Queen Camilla has been a passionate advocate for literacy and the power of a book. Through The Queen’s Reading Room, Queen Camilla has connected many charities and organizations through the impact and benefits of reading “With their extraordinary power to educate and inspire, books have enriched my life since I was a child,” Queen Camilla shared on The Queen’s Reading Room website. “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.”
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