Queen Camilla Makes First Appearance After COVID-19 Recovery to Introduce 'The Queen's Reading Room'

Queen Camilla has resumed royal duties after recovering from a coronavirus diagnosis.

On Thursday, the Queen Consort, 75, welcomed members of the literary community to Clarence House for a reception celebrating the second anniversary of The Reading Room. Queen Camilla launched the literacy initiative in April 2020 with a list of book recommendations to help people get through the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns. The positive response inspired her to create the Reading Room Instagram page in January 2021, which has since drawn a global following of 155,000.

King Charles III joined his wife at the event, her first public appearance since recuperating from her second bout of COVID-19. Last Monday, Buckingham Palace announced that the royal tested positive for the viral disease and canceled her public plans for the week.

"After suffering the symptoms of a cold, Her Majesty The Queen Consort has tested positive for the Covid virus," courtiers said on Feb. 13. "With regret, she has therefore cancelled all her public engagements for this week and sends her sincere apologies to those who had been due to attend them."

The news came nearly a year to the day Camilla's first COVID diagnosis was announced. In a short statement issued on Feb. 14, 2022, a spokesman at Clarence House said, "Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall has tested positive for COVID-19 and is self-isolating. We continue to follow government guidelines." The palace added at the time that Camilla was tripled-vaccinated.

On Wednesday, the day before the Reading Room reception, Queen Camilla pulled out of a scheduled engagement with King Charles, 74. The Queen Consort was set to step out at the Felix Project in East London, the city's largest food redistribution charity. After the King made the stop solo, Buckingham Palace released a statement on why Camilla wasn't there.

"Her Majesty has made an excellent recovery from last week's illness. However, to allow for additional preparation ahead of Thursday's rescheduled literary reception and other commitments, Her Majesty did not attend today's Felix Project engagement," the palace said. "His Majesty's visit remained unaffected."

Queen Camilla was all smiles while mingling with guests at the Thursday reception, which had been rescheduled following her COVID diagnosis. The royal touched on the topic during a brief speech, where she announced that the Reading Room has been established as a charity.

"Your Majesty, ladies and gentlemen, it is a huge pleasure to welcome you all — writers, publishers and book lovers — to Clarence House. A week late, but COVID-free!" Camilla said. "So thank you for re-jigging your busy diaries and coming today."

"All of you here must take the most enormous pride in your profession and in the part that you play in bringing joy, comfort, laughter, companionship and hope through your writing," she continued. "You open our eyes to others' experiences and remind us that we are not alone. Human beings have always needed the connection of literature — its wisdom as well as its sheer escapism. In today's challenging climate, we need it more than ever."

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"I am now delighted to announce that the Reading Room has become a charity, working to close the gap between readers and writers and helping people of all ages and backgrounds find and connect to books," she said, encouraging everyone to attend the organization's first literary festival at Hampton Court Palace later this year. "The development of my Reading Room could never have happened without you all and I am deeply grateful to each one of you for your support and contributions to it," she added.

Literacy has long been a key priority of the Queen Consort's public work. Through her royal role, Camilla has visited schools, libraries, prisons and workplaces to promote the joy and transformative power of books.