Find out what Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, liked to read in her youth

Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, says her favourite book to read in her childhood and youth was the classic Black Beauty and for good reason.

The revelation came while Camilla stressed on the importance of reading to children during a conversation with Lord Dobbs on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme.

Recalling her ‘pony-mad’ youth, Camilla shared how her father, Major Bruce Shand, would read stories to her and her siblings and that she would “think of little else” apart from ponies and horses.

“In those days I was a sort of pony-mad child, and I thought of very little else apart from horses and ponies and charging about on them, so I think Black Beauty was the first book that stuck in my mind.”

The book reportedly still has much the same effect on the Duchess, who further shared, “Every time I think about poor old Ginger with his head hanging out of the cart with his tongue hanging, it makes me cry now, and I think that was possibly one of my favourites.”