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Woman & Home
Lifestyle
Laura Harman

Queen Camilla almost misses important engagement as she arrives just in time to embrace Judi Dench

The Queen almost missed a crucial royal engagement this weekend as she was delayed on the roads while traveling to her own event

Queen Camilla hosted a reception this week for the inaugural Queen's Reading Room Literary Festival at Hampton Court Palace.


On Sunday, June 11, the Queen stepped out in Surrey to attend an event that was an exciting new step for Her Majesty. Literacy has always been a cause close to Her Majesty's heart and in 2021 The Queen’s Reading Room charity was launched on Instagram as a way for Camilla to provide opportunities for the appreciation of literature among adults and children. Her Majesty's book club has since become a huge success and has 165k followers on Instagram.

In celebration of this charity, the Queen hosted a literary festival on Sunday which was attended by several special guests including Dame Judi Dench, David Olusoga, Kamila Shamsie, Ben Macintyre, and Ken Follett.

Her Majesty looked fantastic but unfortunately, the Queen was delayed and missed the reception while she rushed to the event. Daily Mail reported, "Camilla was held up by traffic on the motorway and missed a star-studded reception to mark the first Queen's Reading Room Festival. Fortunately her understudy - the King - stepped into the breach and stood in for her greeting luminaries."

The Queen reportedly told Dame Joanna Lumley, "Everything was shut," as an excuse for her delayed appearance. To this, the Dame responded, "We were grey with anxiety but it's all fine now!"

(Image credit: Getty Images)

It was then officially announced by Buckingham Palace said that Her Majesty had been detained by 'weather-related transport issues'. The UK has recently been experiencing very warm weather that has resulted in a number of issues and thunderstorms across the UK on Sunday night. 

The weather in the UK has caused other problems for the Royal Family and a member of the King's Guard fainted while playing the trombone for The Colonel's Review at Horse Guards Parade - a dress rehearsal of next week’s Trooping the Colour - which marks His Majesty The King’s official birthday.

Prince William, the Colonel of the Welsh Guards who carried out the Review, thanked those who attended the event in the scorching weather and referenced the 'difficult conditions.' 

The Prince said on social media, "A big thank you to every solider who took part in the Colonel’s Review this morning in the heat. Difficult conditions but you all did a really good job. Thank you." In another message, the future King once again referenced the tricky conditions as he said, "The hard work and preparation that goes into an event like this is a credit to all involved, especially in today’s conditions."

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