The Queen Consort today carried out literacy engagements in London, visiting @bookaidinternational and celebrating 50 years of @beanstalkreads work. Swipe through our gallery to find out more. Her Majesty has long-championed the joy of reading and advocated for literacy - take a look at our instagram guide to find out more about her work in this area.
📚Stamped and ready for their new home! At @bookaidinternational 's London warehouse, The Queen Consort helps prepare books ready to be shipped to communities across the world – just a few of the 1m that are sent by the charity every year. Book Aid harnesses the power of books to break down barriers to reading and learning, working with its partners to support and establish libraries across the world. These books are destined for Kigali Public Library, which Her Majesty visited during #CHOGM22 in Rwanda.
The King has sent a message to the President of Pakistan following the bomb attack in Peshawar. Head to our link in bio to read the message in full.
Last night, The King and The Queen Consort hosted a Reception to celebrate British East and South-East Asian communities at Buckingham Palace. Their Majesties were joined by The Princess Royal, The Earl of Wessex, The Duke of Kent, The Duchess of Gloucester and Princess Alexandra. Guests at the Reception encompassed a plethora of fields including the Armed Forces, the Arts, Media, Fashion, Business, Government, Finance, Healthcare, Faith organisations, charities and more. It was also wonderful to see some familiar faces from Their Majesties’ visit to Chinatown last year! The visit took place on Lunar New Year, also called the Spring Festival, which is celebrated by Chinese, South Korean, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Singaporean, Lao, Thai, Mongolian, Bruneian, Indonesian, Japanese, Cambodian, Filipino and East Timorese communities around the world.
The King has sent a message to all those affected by the flooding in New Zealand. Head to our link in bio to read His Majesty’s message in full.
#ShapingUs is a new long-term campaign, spearheaded by The Princess of Wales, from The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood which aims to raise awareness and increase public understanding of the crucial importance of the first five years of a child’s life. To launch this new campaign, The Princess of Wales visited Leeds – a city which has an ambition to be the best place in the UK for children and young people to grow up in. At Kirkgate Market, Her Royal Highness joined locals to discuss their experiences of early childhood, before visiting the University of Leeds to meet students on the Childhood Studies degree programme. The launch of Shaping Us follows over a decade of work by The Princess on early childhood and lifelong mental health and wellbeing. Find out more on @earlychildhood .
For over 20 years, the @AddingtonFund has been supporting farmers and their families in times of crisis. As their Patron, The Countess of Wessex visited Smerrill Dairy to meet farmers from across Gloucestershire to hear about the challenges they face and how the charity has helped them.
The Queen Consort today welcomed members of the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada (QORC) to Buckingham Palace. During a reception, attended by representatives of the Canadian High Commission and the Canadian Military, Her Majesty was presented with the Canadian Forces’ Decoration in recognition of her 12 years of service as the Regiment's Colonel-in-Chief.
'How can I explain the unexplainable? It is a very special honour.' Lily Ebert is one of the UK’s last living Auschwitz survivors and has devoted her life to educating people about the Holocaust. 🎖️ This week, Lily was awarded an MBE for her work by The King at Windsor Castle. With the help of her great-grandson Dov, Lily runs her own TikTok account which she uses to talk about the Holocaust. Born in Bonyhad, Hungary in 1923, she was deported to Auschwitz in 1944 before being sent to work in a munitions factory in Germany until being liberated. This isn’t the first time Lily has met The King. In 2022, His Majesty commissioned seven leading artists to paint seven of the last survivors of the Holocaust as a living memorial to the six million who did not survive to tell their stories. Lily was one of the seven chosen. And in 2021, The King (then The Prince of Wales) wrote the foreward to Lily’s book about her experiences in Auschwitz, saying: 🕯️ ‘Lily’s story is as profoundly moving as she is inspirational … She and her story are a beacon of light in the darkness; a symbol of hope amongst the despair.’
On her inaugural visit since becoming Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, The Queen Consort today met members of the Battalion and their families at Lille Barracks. Over the last five years, the 1st Battalion has been employed across a plethora of military tasks around the world. Members of the Grenadier Guards returned from deployment in September to provide the Bearer Party for the funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. Looking ahead, the Battalion is very much looking forward to supporting state ceremonial duties in the coming months.
From cooking and crafting, to dog-training, music and go-karting… It’s been a fantastic day meeting those taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme! 👏 In Blackpool, The Earl of Wessex saw the volunteering efforts of South Shore Academy and The Oracle Youth Centre, before heading to Preston to join in with the skill-based activities of Pioneer TEC. The @dofeuk Award asks young people, aged 14-24, to participate in four categories… 🚴 Improve a physical activity; 🎨 Learn a new skill; 🤝 Volunteer for a cause of your choice; 🏕️ Complete a challenging expedition. Good luck with the rest of your activities!
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝟐𝟏-𝟐𝟕 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑 Swipe through to see the highlights of this week’s Royal activities, events and engagements. You can find out more about each visit by visiting the news section of our website (link in bio).