Dolly Parton Shared “The Most Precious Gifts” With Queen Camilla

On Wednesday, August 26, The Queen’s Reading Room Charity posted a special tribute to Dolly Parton, who died at the age of 80 on August 25. And while Queen Camilla might not be the first person you think of when remembering the legacy of the late superstar, the two actually had much more in common than expected.

Parton was not only a country singer and humanitarian, but a worldwide champion for literacy—and encouraging people to read is one of The Queen’s biggest passions. Children around the world have received free books from birth through age five through Parton’s Imagination Library, an effort Camilla praised in her charity’s Instagram tribute.

“Today we remember and celebrate the unwavering advocate for the joy and importance of reading—the icon, Dolly Parton,” The Queen’s Reading Room posted on Instagram. “Dolly once said, ‘You can never get enough books into the hands of enough children’…but she gave it a pretty good go, donating more than 300 million books over 30+ years through her Imagination Library.”

“By putting so many books into the hands of so many children, she gave the most precious of gifts: the chance to millions of young minds of opening the door to imagination, possibility and a lifelong love of reading,” the post continued. “Thank you, Dolly!”

Sadly, Queen Camilla never got to meet Parton, but the country music icon did rub elbows with Queen Elizabeth in 1977 during the late monarch’s Silver Jubilee.

Parton once told the Glasgow Times that she had no idea she was performing for the late Queen until the last minute.

“When they told me on the plane I was appearing in front of The Queen, I just jumped up and down telling everyone," she shared. “When I was a little girl, I grew up in a world of kings and queens and princes and princesses in fairy tales. Now I’m going to meet one.”