Queen Camilla hailed the founders of a book award for “transforming the literary landscape for women” as she surprised shortlisted authors and book lovers on Wednesday afternoon. Bookworm Camilla, 77, arrived unannounced at a special event in Bloomsbury, central London, to celebrate 30 years of the Women’s Prize for Fiction.
The winner of the 2025 award will be announced tomorrow, and to mark the special milestone the Queen joined shortlisted authors and former winners at the open-air venue today. In a rousing speech, Her Majesty hailed the founders of the award for having “brought the female voice from the margins of the literary world to its very centre”.
Founder and author Kate Mosse, who invited Her Majesty to attend the anniversary event, said her presence had been kept secret: “Nobody knew, which is why people were so surprised. If you’re going to lay on the Queen, if it’s not Beyoncé, it’s got to be the actual Queen.”
In the Green Room area, she was introduced to the six authors shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, including Nussaibah Younis, whose novel Fundamentally tells the story of an academic who travels to Iraq to deradicalise a teenage Islamic State recruit.
She joked that the competition was stiff between finalists, telling Camilla, “We are trying to take each other out. The Champagne glasses are spiked – there could be one less standing by this afternoon!”
After speaking with each of the finalists, she said,“Good luck to you all; I shall be thinking of you,” before heading to meet six shortlisted authors for the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction.
The Queen was then reunited with Girl, Woman, Other author Bernardine Evaristo, winner of The Women’s Prize Outstanding Contribution Award – a special one-off award for the 30th anniversary year.
There was a quick stop off in a pop-up Waterstones tent, where authors had been signing their books and Camilla was told the bar was kept open late for those queuing to meet their favourite writers. “Quite right,” she agreed.
Making a speech in the Woolf tent in Bedford Square, Her Majesty said the launch of the women’s only prize in 1995, had spearheaded a monumental change.
She said: “Three decades later, your achievements are impressive. Budding authors have benefitted from the wisdom of those who have trodden the same path.
“Careers have been launched, bestsellers have flown off the shelves into the hands and hearts of the public, and each year you distribute 3,000 books to people in need.”
The Queen added “In short, you have transformed the literary landscape for women” before wishing the Prize a happy 30th birthday.