Camilla joins Helena Bonham Carter and Stephen Fry to celebrate historic library

Camilla, the library’s patron, and guests, who besides included lyricist Sir Tim Rice and erstwhile British Vogue editor-in-chief Alexandra Shulman, gathered successful its atmospheric book-filled Reading Room connected Tuesday evening.

In a speech, Sir Stephen thanked the Queen, who is simply a passionate protagonist of literacy charities and acceptable up her ain Instagram publication group, The Queen’s Reading Room, for her devotion to promoting a emotion of reading.

“Thank you for your patronage, your enactment not conscionable of The London Library, but of your enactment for books and penning everywhere,” helium said.

“Just similar The Queen’s Reading Room, this room is unfastened and welcoming to all.

“Here we are, each adjacent citizens of the large kingdom of letters, the realm of reading, and present the highest imaginable doctrine is held for the worth of books, the worth of collections, the worth of a sanctuary… wherever anybody who loves books is made to consciousness astatine home.”

The London Library houses astir 1 cardinal volumes disposable to borrow, and well-known members person included Charles Dickens, Charles Darwin, Bram Stoker, Virginia Woolf, EM Forster, Daphne du Maurier, TS Eliot and Ian Fleming.

Bonham Carter, the library’s archetypal pistillate president, said: “It is precise casual to beryllium astonished by the ambiance of this place. We person 17 miles of books here, which is the equivalent of the Underground Circle line.”

She thanked Camilla for continuing the agelong enactment of royal patrons.

The Queen took connected the relation successful 2024, pursuing successful the footsteps of Queen Elizabeth II, aft serving arsenic its vice-patron since 2012.

Current writers who are members of the autarkic library, successful St James’s Square successful cardinal London, see Sir Kazuo Ishiguro, Sir Tom Stoppard, Raymond Antrobus, Sir Simon Schama, Jessie Burton and Sarah Waters.