The "Unusual" Hobby Enjoyed by Queen Camilla Until Tragedy Struck in 2024

Much has been written about the hobbies enjoyed by members of the Royal Family. For instance, Queen Camilla's son, Tom Parker Bowles, shared that his mom and her husband, King Charles, are "deeply competitive" when it comes to mushroom foraging. The Queen is also a huge fan of ballet, but once injured herself during a "Silver Swans" class. Now, it's been revealed that Camilla used to enjoy a slightly "unusual" hobby, but that sadly may have changed in 2024, per the Express.

Author David Seow has revealed that he sent a copy of his book, The Royal Pup Pack: Catastrophe At The Palace, to Queen Camilla via Buckingham Palace.

The author took to Instagram to share a letter he received from Camilla, dated November 4, 2024, which said, "Many thanks for your kind letter and for sending me a copy of your new book, which I much look forward to reading." She continued, "Please keep writing—the world needs authors and artists!" Camilla then signed the letter by hand, and wrote a personal note underneath, saying, "My dogs enjoyed it too!"

Unfortunately, Camilla was left "heartbroken" in November as her beloved Jack Russell Terrier, Beth, died. According to People, Beth "had an untreatable tumor and had to be put down." As a result, Camilla's "unusual" hobby of reading to her dogs may have been placed on pause.

Queen Camilla and King Charles shared news of Beth's death on Instagram, writing, "A sad farewell to Beth, The Queen’s much-loved companion from @Battersea Dogs and Cats Home who brought such joy, whether on walkies, helping on official duties, or curled up by the fire." Although The King and Queen lost Beth, whom they adopted in 2011, they still own a second Jack Russell named Bluebell.

Camilla is such a fan of reading that she launched a book club during the COVID-19 pandemic, and subsequently created a charity, The Queen's Reading Room, dedicated to encouraging people to engage with books.

At an event celebrating the 70th anniversary of Book Aid International in September, Queen Camilla shared her love of reading in an impromptu speech. "I have visited quite a lot of countries on my travels and I have been to libraries which have been recipients of Book Aid, and I have just seen the joy on the children's faces when they receive these books," she told attendees (via the Daily Mail). "And if we can keep on doing this all over the world, we're going to make a very, very big difference to people reading books, children getting access to books—and it's really thanks to Book Aid and all of you here who have made this possible."