'You want to get hold of it': Queen Camilla reveals she read 'forbidden' Lady Chatterley's Lover by torchlight as a teenager

From the Newshound archive · first published 9 October 2026 · last updated 11 October 2026.

Queen Camilla has revealed that as a teenager in the 1960s she read DH Lawrence's sexually explicit novel 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' hidden under her pillow, remarking that the instant something is forbidden, "you want to get hold of it." The admission features in a BBC documentary, 'The Book That Changed My Life', scheduled to broadcast next week, in which Camilla examines how books can shape lives. She also disclosed that she and King Charles share a reading session before dinner every evening, describing it as "the best tonic in the world."

King Charles is an avid fan of biographies and PG Wodehouse, and Camilla says she is regularly interrupted by him "roaring with laughter" mid-read.

Camilla, 79, said reading became central to her life partly because women of her generation did not go to university: "I think reading has been most of my education."

She called the prospect of books disappearing "a complete and utter tragedy" and said stressed grandchildren tell her they watch her "completely chill out" the moment she picks up a book.