‘I think I’m on the mend’: Queen attends Booker Prize reception after illness

The Queen said she is “getting much better” as she arrived at a Booker Prize reception in her first public engagement since falling ill with a chest infection.

Camilla congratulated shortlisted authors at Clarence House on Tuesday afternoon and the winner of the prestigious literary prize will be announced in the evening.

It is her first public engagement since she contracted the seasonal bug following her long-haul tour to Australia and Samoa two-and-a-half weeks ago.

The Queen was greeted in the Garden Room by chief executive of the Booker Prize Foundation, Gaby Wood, and chair of the 2024 judges, Edmund de Waal.

She shook their hands and told Ms Wood: “I’m obviously getting much better. A bit of sort of coughing going on.”

“I really wanted to come,” Camilla added.

The Queen went on to speak with the six shortlisted authors and told American writer Percival Everett, who she met after he made the 2022 shortlist, that: “I think I’m on the mend, but these things always take a bit time to get rid of.

“You think you’ve got rid of it, then they just sort of hang on for a little bit, but hopefully I’m on the mend now.”

The Queen told Sydney-based novelist Charlotte Wood that “we had a lovely time” in her city during their tour of Australia.

She said: “We were thrilled to be there, it was so lovely to get such a warm welcome.”

Camilla asked the group: “So, you’re all going to be sitting tonight with your fingers crossed and eyeing each other up? Do you each read each other’s books?”

The authors said they do and the Queen responded, “well, it’s quite nice to see what you’re up against”.

Camilla closed the engagement after just over 10 minutes by telling the guests that literature “has always been my passion”.

She said: “I’m extremely jealous because I would love to be able to write like all of you do.

“Seeing people like you, I know that I couldn’t possibly do something like that.”

Camilla added: “All I can say is, all the very best tonight. I hope somebody will let me know (who wins).

“I would love for somebody to just sneak before and whisper in my ear – while I’m leaving them all so I can’t come back and tip them and wink.”

The Queen’s illness forced her to miss gathering with the King, the Princess of Wales and the rest of the royal family at the annual Remembrance Sunday at the Cenotaph, and the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall the evening before.

Camilla is an avid reader and patron of a number of literary organisations, and last year hosted the six 2023 Booker Prize hopefuls at Clarence House.

Her Reading Room project, launched during lockdown, has grown into a major initiative which now has a podcast attracting leading writers and a literary festival in its second year.

This year’s Booker Prize shortlist features the largest number of women authors in its 55-year history, with five women and one man.

The texts are James by Mr Everett, Orbital by Samantha Harvey, Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner, Held by Anne Michaels, The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden and Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood.

The winner will receive £50,000, in addition to the £2,500 awarded to each of the six shortlisted authors.

Recent winners of the award include Bernardine Evaristo, Margaret Atwood, Douglas Stuart, Damon Galgut, Shehan Karunatilaka and Paul Lynch.