Queen Camilla hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace today to celebrate the final of BBC’s prestigious 500 Words creative writing competition.
The event brought together finalists, judges and celebrity readers for the UK’s most prestigious children’s writing competition.
During the ceremony, Her Majesty presented medals to the winners of the competition.
The final will be televised during a special 30-minute episode of The One Show on Thursday March 6, coinciding with World Book Day.
Queen Camilla hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace today to celebrate the final of BBC’s prestigious 500 Words creative writing competition
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The Queen has supported the 500 Words competition since 2015.
The competition, run by BBC Teach and supported by The One Show, encourages children of all abilities across the United Kingdom to write without fear of spelling, grammar or punctuation errors.
The ceremony for this year’s competition, which received almost 44,000 entries from young writers, celebrated achievements of six winners from two age categories: 5 to 7 years and 8 to 11 years.
Gold, silver, and bronze medals were awarded in each group.
The Queen has supported the 500 Words competition since 2015
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Since its launch in 2011 by Chris Evans on the BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show, the competition has received over one million stories from children throughout the UK.
The 200 guests at the reception included celebrity readers Olivia Colman, McFly’s Danny Jones and Tom Fletcher, Matt Lucas and Rose Ayling-Ellis.
Six illustrators were commissioned to illustrate the winning stories.
They were displayed at the reception alongside items from the Royal Library, including copies of Oliver Twist, The Little Mermaid and Cinderella.
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Queen Camilla is well known for her work on literacy initiatives across the United Kingdom
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Queen Camilla is well known for her work on literacy initiatives across the United Kingdom.
Over the years, the 77-year-old has visited schools, libraries, and championed workplace reading schemes.
Her Majesty holds several literacy-related patronages, including the National Literacy Trust, First Story, Coram Beanstalk and Booktrust.
In addition to supporting The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition as Vice-Patron of the Royal Commonwealth Society, In 2021, Camilla launched The Queen’s Reading Room, a charity working to celebrate and promote the power and benefits of reading.