Queen Camilla of the United Kingdom has spoken out at the launch of her new charity, and amid controversy over the bowdlerisation of classic children’s books, imploring authors to resist censorship to roar “like a pride of lions”.
The new Queen made a strident intervention on the now long-running public debate on growing censorship, going beyond inference and implicit statements to outright call on authors to write what they want to write without fear of censorship.
Speaking at Clarence House, a royal palace in London, Camilla said: “… thank you, on behalf of book lovers and book clubs everywhere, for sharing your talents with us and for everything you do to promote literacy and a love of literature.
“Please keep doing so and please remain true to your calling, unimpeded by those who may wish to curb the freedom of your expression or impose limits on your imagination. Enough said!”.
The Queen underlining her point with “enough said” while censorship becomes a daily concern in the United Kingdom, and particularly in the wake of a great controversy about the proposed re-writing of classic childrens’ literature to prevent giving offence, drew knowing laughs in the room. The comments have been widely interpreted as being a deliberate reflection on the state of censorship in the United Kingdom, an unusual move for a senior Royal in a Royal Family which has long been non-interventionist on political matters.
Continuing, the Queen remarked: “… let there be no squeaking like mice about your achievements, but only roaring like a pride of lions.”
The Queen’s new charity, The Queen’s Reading Room, is a new initiative to promote “the appreciation of literature among adults and children” and of authors themselves.
Queen Camilla became the Queen, or Queen Consort, as the wife of King Charles III, who ascended the throne of the United Kingdom last year. As well as being the Queen in the United Kingdom, Camilla is also a royal in over a dozen other commonwealth realms worldwide including Canada, Australia, Papua New Guinea, and New Zealand.