The Queen has said she is “so proud” of all the children who have entered the BBC’s “brilliant” 500 Words competition down the years as its 2024 edition launched on Tuesday.
In a speech read out on the BBC’s The One Show by Children’s Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Camilla said the competition had created “a million tales of thoughtful reflection and swashbuckling adventure”.
500 Words, which has been running since 2011, challenges children in two age categories (five to seven and eight to 11) to write a story they would enjoy reading in 500 words or less, 50 finalists are then invited to a grand final at Buckingham Palace in February the following year.
Speaking about the competition, the Queen said: “I very much wanted to write to you to share in the 500 Words excitement on this special launch day.
“I love 500 Words and I am so proud of all the people who have participated in this brilliant initiative over the years.
“Not only is it the UK’s most successful children’s story-writing competition ever, but all the entries, past, present and future, are sent to Oxford University Press to form part of the biggest collection of children’s writing in the world – which means more than a million tales of thoughtful reflection and swashbuckling adventure for future generations to study and enjoy.
“Above all, 500 Words is enormous fun and I am quite sure that everyone who enters will have a wonderful time preparing their masterpieces (and that the judges will have an extremely difficult task selecting the winners).
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“To quote Beatrix Potter, ‘there’s something delicious about writing those first few words of a story, you can never quite tell where they will take you’.
“They might just take you to Buckingham Palace.”
The grand final will see celebrities read out the winning stories, which will be given bronze, silver and gold in each age group.
Each winner takes home a bundle of books, while the author of the stories who receive gold in each category will also win 500 books for their school library.
Each winning story will also get an illustrated cover from artists Momoko Abe, Dapo Adeola, Rob Biddulph, Yasmeen Ismail, Lydia Monks and Nigel Parkinson.
At the final, the books will be judged by authors Cottrell-Boyce, Malorie Blackman, Francesca Simon and Charlie Higson, comedian Sir Lenny Henry and singer Olivia Dean.
Speaking of the competition launch, Cottrell-Boyce said: “The thing I most love about 500 Words is how unpredictable it is.
“When I open the envelope of stories, I never know whether I’m going to laugh, cry or shiver with horror.
Fifty finalists are invited to an event at Buckingham Palace (Nick Ansell/PA)
“The best feeling is when a child has put something of themselves into the story. Then it’s like meeting a new person.”
The panel will be chaired by The One Show presenter Alex Jones.
Entrants have until 9pm on Friday November 8 2024 to submit their tales, which are not allowed to recount historical events, use AI in their creation, or give personal details of the child including their name.
The final will be shown in a special 500 Words programme with The One Show on BBC One at 7pm on World Book Day on March 6 2025.