By Robert Jobson

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The Queen welcomed “fellow bookworms” to her third literary festival on Friday. Her Majesty, 78, croaked an apology for her voice while at her Reading Room Festival at Chatsworth House, Derbyshire.

“I’m sorry if my voice gives halfway through but as you can imagine I’ve been doing quite a lot of talking the last few days,” she said. “I’ll try to hang onto it.”

Camilla missed the Duchess of Kent’s funeral on Tuesday with acute sinusitis. But she rallied for this week’s high-profile state visit by US President Donald Trump.

Bridget Jones actress Celia Imrie, 73, asked the Queen how she was coping after the pageantry at Windsor Castle.

“My voice, I think I’ve pushed it the last couple of days,” coughed Her Majesty.

“What else could you do? Well you had to,” Imrie replied. “I just hope it doesn’t fade,” Camilla replied smiling.

The Queen met women in one of the charity’s grassroots outreach projects. She joined a talk on how reading boosts mental health with survivors from The Elm Foundation and neuroscientist Professor Sam Wass.

“There’s nothing like a book to take you away,” Her Majesty said. “It helps so much with stress. You can shut yourself away with a book, it’s a safe space.”

She later met literary stars including The Thursday Murder Club author Richard Osman, 54, before viewing a Jane Austen performance and an exhibition.

In her speech Camilla hailed Austen, who was born 250 years ago and said to have based Pride and Prejudice’s Pemberley on Chatsworth.

She said: “Ladies and gentlemen, it is a truth universally acknowledged that books make life better. They allow us to see through another’s eyes, they comfort and encourage us, make us laugh, make us cry and free us to travel the globe without stepping outside our front doors.

“Moreover, scientific research by my Reading Room shows that books have significant benefits for both our brains and our emotions.

“Our aim is to unlock their transformative power to create a healthier, happier and more connected world – a world I hope that even Lizzie Bennett would have approved of…”

Her online Reading Room began in lockdown when she shared her nine favourite novels. It now has 180,000 members and an annual audience of 12 million across 183 countries.

“This is our third festival, offering us the opportunity to celebrate the written word, to learn about the outstanding work of local charities and to spend time with our fellow bookworms,” she told guests. “I’m delighted that so many of you have joined us this evening at Chatsworth: writers, actors, publishers and readers… in fact everyone involved in the wonderful world of books. Without you all we would not be here, so thank you.

“And now, ladies and gentlemen, I know that we have plenty of treats in store. I shall therefore stop, in case William feels the need to interrupt me with a sardonic, ‘You have delighted us long enough’.”

The Queen’s Reading Room became a charity in 2023. It grew from an Instagram book club she launched in 2021. It now promotes the power of books with free educational content and festivals in Britain and abroad.