Queen Camilla opens Cliveden Literary Festival, honouring Britain’s storied literary legacy

Queen Camilla brought a touch of royal elegance to the 2025 Cliveden Literary Festival today as she officially opened the event, celebrating one of her long standing passions of literature.

Hosting a special reception at the historic Cliveden House, the Queen welcomed a distinguished crowd of authors, festival supporters, charity partners, and students from the London Academy of Excellence.

Founded in 2017, the Cliveden Literary Festival has become one of Britain’s most esteemed cultural gatherings, continuing the estate’s legacy as a hub for great thinkers such as Alexander Pope, Alfred Lord Tennyson, George Bernard Shaw, Jonathan Swift, and Sir Winston Churchill.

Now in its eighth year, the festival saw Queen Camilla deliver a heartfelt speech before meeting its founders Simon Sebag Montefiore, Natalie Livingstone, Lord Roberts of Belgravia, and Catherine Ostler.

The Queen also joined a lively discussion on the importance of reading and the enduring value of literature with an esteemed panel that included Sir Salman Rushdie, Sir Jonathan Bate, and Dame Marina Warner reaffirming her deep commitment to promoting literacy and the arts.

She a continued her literary mission today as she visited the Clock Tower Stage, where historian and author Simon Sebag Montefiore invited her to officially open the 2025 Cliveden Literary Festival.

In her speech, the Queen spoke about the power of reading and the importance of nurturing a love for literature she has long championed. 

Her engagement concluded with a charming reception in Cliveden House’s French Dining Room, bringing together festival speakers, supporters, students from the London Academy of Excellence, and representatives from Book Aid International, one of the festival’s charity partners.

The event follows Queen Camilla’s recent appearance at The Queen’s Reading Room Festival at Chatsworth House last month. 

There, she met participants from the charity’s outreach programmes, enjoyed a performance inspired by Jane Austen’s works, and mingled with guests attending a screening of Pride and Prejudice on the estate’s picturesque lawns.